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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The Wa! of Salvation 



sii;R]\d:o]s^s 



/BY 
V 



B. B. TYLER 




The Standard PublisSingT!!ompany 
Publishers of Christian Literature 






THE LIBRARY 
OF CONORBSS 

WASHINGTON 



Copyright, 1895, by 
The Standard Publishing CoxMpany 



THE SUPREME QUESTION. 

"Sirs! What must I do to be saved.?"— Acts 
xvi. 30. 

This question was propounded by an af- 
frighted prison keeper in Philippi. It was 
addressed to servants of the Most High God. 
Paul and Silas had been thrown into prison, 
having been charged with teaching customs 
unlawful to be received and observed by the 
Romans. The prison keeper received a com- 
tnand to keep the accused preachers safely. 
Having received this order, he thrust them 
into the inner prison, making their feet fast 
in the stocks. 

Paul and Silas, the imprisoned ministers of 
Jesus Christ, at the midnight hour prayed and 
sang praises to God. Their prayers and songs 
ascended to heaven. God heard them, and 



2 The Way of Salvation, 

shook the earth. The doors of the prison were 
opened and the bands of the prisoners wei'e 
loosed. The jailer attempted to take his life 
wfth his sword, supposing; that I he prisoners 
had escaped. Paul, more anxious to do the 
poor man good thnn to save himself, cried, 
''Do thvself no harm; we are all here.'' Hear- 
in^ this voice, the jailer called for a lijiiht, 
sprang into the prison, brought Paul and Silas 
out of their dungeon cell, and falling before 
them, exclaimed, "What must I do to be saved?" 

He probably inquired concerning salvation, 
because a few days before, a certain damsel, 
possessed with a spirit of divination, had fol- 
lowed Paul and Silas about the city, calling 
especial attention to them by the cry, ''These 
men are servants of thr Most High God, who 
show unto us the way of salvation." Hei' proc- 
lamation, and the earthquake, under the cir- 
cumstances, doubtless suggested to this heathen 
that Paul and Silas were indeed servants of 
the Most High God, and that they wei'e able 
to indicate to him the way of deliverance 
from sin. 

That the jailer inquired the way of free- 



The Supreme Question. 3 

dom from sin, and not merelv ih-e wav of de- 
liverance from punishment by the Roman au- 
thorities for permitting his prisoners to escape, 
is evident from the reply to the question 
and from the jailer's subsequent conduct. Paul 
understood what he meant when he asked 
what he must do to be saved, and replied 
accordin2;lv. ^ 

Let us, in this discourse, consider in general 
the way of return to God and consequent de- 
liverance from sin, as indicated by the teaching 
of these servants of the Most High. 
1'^ It is impossible for human speech to exagger- 
ate the importance of this inquiry. The Bible 
is a book of great questions. What is man? 
If a man die, shall he live again? What shall 
it profit a man if he should gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul? How shall we 
escape if we neglect so great salvation? If 
the I'ighteous scarcely be saved, whei'e shall 
the ungodly and the sinner appear? What 
think ye of Christ, whose son is he? What 
shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ? 
What shall the end be of Ihemathat obev not 
the Gospel of God? These are some of the 



4 The Way of Salvation. 

great questions quoted at random from the 
Bible— from the Old Testament and the New. 
But most remarkable is the fact that con- 
nected with these great questions are clear, 
authoritative, and eternally decisive answers. 
All of these, however, and other inquiries 
which might be quoted are of importance, 
chiefly as they contribute to the solution of 
the transcendentally important problem con- 
cerning the way of deliverance from sin. The 
question, therefore, to which they are to give 
attention at this present time is an inquiry 
of supreme importance. 

Do not mistake, I pray you, the import of 
the question. It is not what must I do to 
save myself independent of God, of Jesus, of 
the Holy Spirit, of the elect angels. The 
question is. What must I do to be saved? What 
position must I occupy in order that I may pos- 
sess an assurance that God is my Father, that 
Jesus is mv elder brother, mv Mediator and mv 
Saviour; that t*he Holy Spirit is, in ftict, my sanc- 
tifier, my guide, my helper, and that the angels 
are indeed ministering spirits sent forth to 
render service to me as a wav of salvation. 



The Supreme Question, 5 

It is no part of my present purpose to dis- 
cuss the work of the Father, of the Son, of 
the Holy Spirit, of the angels, in the salva- 
tion of men. There are interesting inquiries 
on which we might, with profit, spend time, 
such as: What has God done? What is God 
doing? What will He continue to do to bring 
his wandering children home? What has Jesus 
done? W^hat is He doing? What will He con- 
tinue to do to complete the salvation of the 
lost woi^ld? What has the Holy Spirit done? 
What is the Holy Spirit now doing? What 
will the Holy Spirit do in time to come to 
make men and women sons and daughters of 
the Lord Almighty, and bring them into the 
inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and un- 
fading? What has been the ministry of angels 
in the past to men, good and bad? What is 
their ministry at this time? What w^ill they 
do to help men to better lives, and to reach 
the eternal home in the future? These are 
questions of interest, and on them our minds 
might dwell with pleasure and profit, but at 
present the assumption is that the Father, the 
Son, the Spirit, the elect angels, have done, 



6 The Way of Salvatioiu 

are doing, and will continue to do, perfectly, 
whatever they ought to do to secure man's 
salvation. This being assumed, the question 
is— what must man do that he may be saved 
from sin, saved to holiness, and that he may 
know of a certainty that he is accepted of God? 
The difficulty in this matter is on the hu- 
man, not on the Divine side. God has done, 
is doing, and will continue to do, all that in- 
finite wisdom, and goodness, and power, can 
do in oi"der to the salvation of men. Jesu.s, 
by the grace of God, has tasted death for 
every man, having humbled himself, having 
become of no reputation, having submitted to 
the Ignominious death of the cross, having 
arisen triumphantly from the grave, having 
ascended to heaven, where he evei' lives on 
the right hand of the Majesty on High, to 
make intercession for those who put their trust 
in him. The Holy Spirit has been sent into 
the world, and is now present in the church, 
for the express purpose of convicting men of 
sin, of righteousness and of judgment. For 
the purpose of making them strong to over- 
come in the conflict with evil— for the purpose 



The Supreme Question. 7 

of guiding them in the way everlasting. 
That the angels are profoundly and contin- 
ually interested in bringing men back to 
God and glory, can not for a moment be 
doubted. There is no danger that on the Di- 
vine side there will be any failure. The dif- 
ficulty is to persuade men to do what is so 
acceptable in the sight of God that his bless- 
ing will come upon them in the remission of 
their sins, in an assurance of acceptance, im- 
parting to them a well-grounded hope of eter- 
nal life, to experience the peace that passeth 
understanding, and to rejoice with the joy 
that is unspeakable and full of g;lory. 

This is a 'personal question— What must /do 
to be saved. The inquiry is not what must 
this man upon my right, upon my left, in front 
of me, behind me, or in some other place, do. 
The inquiry is not what must the Chinese, or 
the Japanese, or the Hindoos, or the Africans, 
do to be saved. The inquiry is not what must 
my neighbor, or anyone else do, but it relates 
to mvself individuallv. What must / do to be 
saved? 

In a number of places in the New Testament 



8 The Way of Salvalion. 

this question, in one form or another, is 
pi'opounded. 

The rich young ruler approached the Master 
with the inquiry, "What good thing shall 1 
do to inherit eternal life?" The people who 
heard Simon Peter's sermon in Jerusalem on 
the first Pentecost after the ascension and 
coronation of Jesus, inquired what they must 
do in order to obtain remission of sins. Saul of 
Tarsus, before Damascus' gate, asked the Lord 
what was appointed for him to do. Captain 
Cornelius, of the Roman army, evidently had 
inquired in his prayer what the Lord would 
have him do. 

In not one single instance are they told 
that there is nothing for men to do. On the 
contrary, the answers are prompt, clear and 
decisive, indicating that men must do some 
definite thing or things in order to stand ac- 
cepted of God. Jesus said, in closing the Ser- 
mon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 24-27) that the 
difference between the man who hears and 
does, and the man who hears and does not, is 
the difference between a wise man and a fool. 
James, the Lord's brother, speaks (James i. 22-25) 



The Supreme Question. 9 

of the man \vho is a hearer of the word and 
not a doer. He says that such a person is like 
a man who looks into a glass, and going his 
way, forgets what manner of man he was. 
James assures us that there is a blessing, an 
immediate blessing, for the man who hears 
and does. Paul admonishes his brethren in 
Fhilippi (Philip, ii. 12) to work out iheir own 
salvation with fear and trembling. In the clos- 
ing words of the Apocalypse (Rev. xxii. 14) a 
benediction is pronounced on those who do 
the commandments — who wash their robes that 
thev mav have a ri^ht to come to the tree of 
life, and may enter by the gates into the city. 
Simon Peter told the people on Pentecost day 
(Acts ii. 38) to repent and be baptized. Jesus 
told the rich young ruler (Matt. xix. 16-26) 
to keep the commandments. Ananias told 
Saul of Tarsus (Acts xxii. 16) to arise and be 
baptized. In every case men are told to do 
something if they would be saved. 

Where can an infallibly correct and a di- 
vinely authoritative answer to this supreme 
inquiry be found? In the Bible? Certainly! 
But in what part of the Bible? 



10 The ^yay of Salvation, 

Do not fail, please, lo bear in mind that the 
supreme question relates to the deliverance 
from sin under the gracious administration 
of the Son of God. The Old Testament indi- 
cates the way of spiritual freedom as far as 
that could be experienced in the time of the 
patriarchs, and under the administration of 
Moses and the prophets. It is absurd to turn 
to the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, Ueutei'onomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 
Samuel, Kings. Chronicles, the Psalms, Job, 
the Proverbs, or Ecclesiasles, to learn how 
to come to a kno\\ ledge of salvation by i-e- 
mission of sins under the way of Him who 
possesses now all authority in heaven and on 
earth. 

When the New Testament is examined there 
is room for the exercise of reason and com- 
mon sense. The Gospels, for instance, Mat- 
thew, Mark, Luke, John, were written to set 
forth the personal character and official dig- 
nity of the Son of man, not for the purpose 
of telling inquirers specifically what to do to 
be saved. Of course, the way of salvation is 
indicated in the Gospels with more or less 



The Supreme Question, 11 

plainness, with greater or less distinctness, 
in more than one place. In Jesus' conversa- 
tion with Nicodemus (John iii. 1-8) the con- 
dition of citizenship in the kingdom of God 
is announced. The way of salvation is con- 
tained in the last chapter of Mark's gospel 
(Mark xvi. 16) He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved. 

But these and other similar instances are 
merely incidental. The prime purpose of these 
writings is to so place Christ before men tjiat 
they will believe in him as the Son of God. 

The epistles discuss questions concerning 
the application of Christian principles to the 
dailv affairs of life. Thev deal in matters of 
casuistry and of ethics. Thev have to do with 
the practical conduct of those w-ho have be- 
come disciples of Christ. The epistles are not 
addressed to persons away from Christ, but to 
men and women who are characterized as 
sanctified ones, as those who are called to be 
saints, as those who call on the name of Jesus 
Christ our Lord, as members of the Church 
of God, as holy brethren, as bishops, deacons, 
and faithful ones in Christ Jesus. 



12 The Way of Salvation, 

Simon Peter, for ins'ance, wrote two epistles 
to stir up the pure minds of the elect to a 
remembrance of some of the teachings of the 
Christ (II. Peter iii. 1). John, the Beloved, 
wrote his first epistle (I. John v. 13) to those 
who believe on the name of the Son of God, 
that they might know that they possessed 
eternal life. In the Book of Revelation men 
are permitted to see the triumpli of right- 
eousness; to see the kingdoms of this world 
become the kingdom of Christ. But in none 
of these general divisions of the New Testa- 
ment is the question concerning the way of 
remission for those who are aliens from the 
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the 
covenant of the promise, outlined definitely. 

The Book of Acts is the revival book of the 
Bible. Before the facts which it records had 
an existence, Jesus had returned to heaven. 
He had taken his seat at the right hand of 
God. The Holy Spirit had come to convict 
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judg- 
ment. The Crucified had been preached as 
the Son of God. The message concerning the 
glorified Son of man was full of power. Those 



The Supreme Question, 13 

who heard it were pricked in their hearts. 
They exclaimed: Men! Brethren! What must 
we do? The answer of the Holy Spirit, speak- 
ing through Simon Peter, a servant and an 
apostle of Jesus Christ, was prompt, clear, di- 
rect, concise, authoritative— Repent ye, and 
be baptized, every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ unto the remission of vour 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit (Acts ii. 38). Thus the Book of Acts 
begins, and at the close it is flaming with 
evangelistic fervor. Its successive chapters 
are records of wonderful victories. Men bv 
the ten thousand are turned to the Lord.- 
The Book of Acts is a divinely arranged hand- 
book of evangelism. It tells us what to preach. 
It instructs us how to preach, and the pre- 
cise teaching which the Holy Spirit would 
have preachers now, in these days, give to men 
and women who desire to come to a knowl- 
edge of acceptance with God. 

But you have observed, doubtless, that dif- 
ferent answers are given to the various in- 
quiries concerning the way of life. Let us 
pause, therefore, and look at the replies. To 



14 The Way of Salvation. 

the rich young man (Matt. xix. 16-26) the 
Master said: Keep the commandments. The 
I'uler inquired "Which?" The Teacher said: 
Thou shalt do no murder; Thou shall not com- 
mit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt 
not bear false witness: Thou shalt honor thv 
father and thv mother; Thou shalt love thv 
neighbor as thyself. The young man declared 
that he had kept these commandments from 
his youth up, and tiien, with, I fancy, an air 
of triumph, lie said, What lack I yet? If thou 
wilt be perfect, replied Jesus, go and sell that 
thou hast and give to the poor. 

But an entirely different reply was made 
by Simon I'eter in Jerusalem to the men who 
were pricked in their hearts and exclaimed, 
What shall we do! (Acts ii. 37-38). The 
preacher told them to repent and be bap- 
tized. He said not one word about keeping 
the commandments quoted by the Master in 
his interview with the rich young man. 

When Saul of Tarsus was sti'icken to the 
earth, on his way to Damascus, Ananias, a de- 
vout man, was commissioned to give him in- 
structions as to what the Lord would have 



The Supreme Question. 15 

him do. Ananias said nothing about keeping 
the commandments; nothing about repentance, 
but told Saul to arise and be baptized. (Acts 
xxii. 16). 

In the case of the Philippian prison keeper 
(Acts xvi. 29-34) there is nothing said about 
repentance, about keeping the commandments. 
He is told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

You will observe that the rich vouns; ruler 
is directed to keep certain commandments con- 
tained in the Old Testament; that the people 
ill Jerusalem, on Pentecost, are told to repent 
and be baptized; that Saul is commanded to 
be baptized, while the jailer is required to 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In what, way now can these various replies 
])e harmonized? Partly by consideration of 
the fact that the persons addressed occupied 
difTerent positions, moral and spiritual, and 
partly by the fact of a ditference in time, and 
so a difference of dispensation. Paul says 
(I^m. XV. 8) that Jesus was a minister of the 
circumcision. He also says (Gal. iv. 4^ that 
when the fullness of time was come, God sent 
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under 



16 The Way of Salvaiion. 

the law. Now tliis minister of the c ire q in- 
cision, when he was among men, lived under 
the law, but when he came to his death 
(Col. ii. 14) Paul savs that he blotted out the 
handwriting of the ordinances which was against 
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out 
of the way, nailing it to hii^ cross. Paul also 
says (Eph. ii. 15) that Jesus abolished the law. 
The instruction given by Christ to the rich 
young ruler (Matt, xix.) was given during the 
reign of the law of Moses before the hand- 
writing of the ordinances was taken out of 
the wav, and bv a teacher who was a minis- 
ter of the circumcision. 

These facts explain the language of Jesus 
to the young man. Another explanation of 
the various answers, is, as already intimated, 
to be found in the fact that men occupy dif- 
ferent positions, morol and spiritual. So far 
as the question of salvation is concerned, the 
entire I'ace may be di\ided in.to five classes. 
Every person is either (1) an unbeliever, or 
(2) a believer, or (3) a penitent, or (4) a l^ap- 
tized penitent believer, or (5) a backslider. 
Each of these classes is instructed as to the 



The Supreme Question. 17 

steps to be taken in order to enter into fel-, 
lowship with God, and so to obtain forgive- 
ness of sins. 

The unbeliever is told to believe (Acts xvi. 
31); the believer is told to repent (Acts ii. 38); 
the penitent believer is told to be baptized 
(Acts ii. 38; xxii. 16); the baptized penitent 
believer is told to add all Christian graces 
to his well-begun faith (II. Peter i. 5-11); the 
backslider is told to repent and pray for for- 
giveness (Acts viii. 22). There is no confusion 
in the teaching of Sci-ipture concerning this 
matter; everything is perfectly plain, and 
straightforward, and ti'ansparent to the un- 
derstanding, when men are placed in their 
appropriate positions and the Word of God is 
intelligently divided. 

If, now, a person will follow these direc- 
tions, and take these steps, there is no doubt 
whatever of his acceptance with God. Nor is 
he under the necessity of ti-usting to emotions 
or feelings. He rests in the sure Word of 
God for a knowledge of his salvation. Con- 
nected with each step in this process is a 
promise, a definite promise, as sure as the 



18 The Way of Salvation, 

word and oath of Jehovah. Is it certain tliat 
a man who will do these things, who will be 
guided, will be saved? It is as absolutely 
certain as it is that the Bible contains a mes- 
sage from God. It is as absolutely certain 
that such a person will be accepted of God 
as anything possible can be. In order that 
men who have fled for I'efuge may have a 
strong consolation (lleb. vi. 18), God has not 
only given us his word, but he has confirmed 
this word by an oath, and this oath he has 
confirmed by the blood of his only begott«en 
Son. For any person, therefore, to doubt in 
this matter is to doubt God himself, is to 
discredit his word and oath— the word and 
oath sealed by the blood of his only Son. 

Here then is a rock on which we may build 
with absolute security. Thus we have found 
an answer to the supreme question which is 
clear, intelligible, infallible and satisfactory. 



THE FAITH THAT SAVES. 

"Thy faith hath made thee whole." — Matthew 
ix. 22. 

This is a word of encouragement from the 
Christ addressed to a timid woman. The con- 
text informs us that she had been diseased 
twelve years. Mark tells us that she had 
suffered many things of many physicians, had 
spent all that she had, and was nothing bet- 
tered, but rather grew worse. She heard of 
Jesus and of his wonderful power as a healer. 
She believed in Him. This faith prompted her 
to press through the crowd and touch the hem 
of his garment. She said to herself, "If I 
touch but His raiment, I shall be made whole." 
Nor was she disappointed, because, instantly, 
having touched Him she realized that her 
body was healed of the plague. It was her 
faith that impelled her to approach the Healer 
that she might receive physical health. 

The word translated "made whole" means 

19 



20 The War of Salvation. 

to heal, to preserve,, to save, to make whole. 
Our spiritual health depends on faith (o quite 
as great an extent as did tiie physical health 
of this unfortunate woman. More than once 
during his personal ministry among men did 
the Master say that the physically alllicted 
were cured by faith, but the entire tenor of 
the New Testament teaching is that sin-sick 
men and women are made snirituallv whole 
by this same principle. The value of faith is 
thus brought before our minds. Let its ihr a 
few moments close the Bible, and inqui^'e into 
the value of faith in other departments of life 
than that of religion. 

Is faith of any worth in the common and 
daily concerns of life? The family is a product 
of faith. Men and women are drawn togethei* 
in ihe sacred relations of husband and wife by 
faith. Thev believe in one another. Destrov 
this confidence and ihe home is ruined. Wives 
believe in husbands; husbands have faith in 
wives. Parents believe in their children; 
children have confidence in their parents. 
Masters believe in their servants; servants 
trust their masters. So it comes to pass th<it 



The Faith that Saves, 21 

Ui^ members of a household are dra^vn and 
held together in harmonious relations by faith. 

Faith is a fundamental principle in business. 
A commercial panic, for instance, is caused 
largely, primai'ily we may say, by a lose of 
faith. Men for this or that apparent reason 
disti'ust one another, and as a result begin to 
withdraw assistance from and to press one 
another until there is such a serious disturb- 
ance of business that we call the situation a 
panic, and this very term is dei'ived fr-om a 
Greek word that signifies of or pertaining to 
the god Pan, to whom the causing of sudden 
fright W'as popularly ascribed. A panic is, 
therefore, a sudden and really groundless fi'ight. 
But this alarm is a result of a loss of faith, 
a decay of confidence in one another. 

This great cily, the commercial capital of 
the New World, lives and moves and has its 
being by faith. The commercial distress 
through which we have been passing for 
months furnishes an admirable illustration of 
che thought that at this moment I am at- 
tempting to present. The financial agony of 
this time is not a result of a scarcitv of monev. 



22 The Way of Salvativji. 

There is as much specie and currency in cir- 
culation as there has been \ov a leng lime. 
Indeed there is more money in New York at 
this present moment, and has been I'or months, 
til an at any previous period of the city's 
liistory, but never })efore lias there been such 
distress, so uide-spread and so great, as during 
tiie winter of 1893-1894. \Vhy? Lai-gely be- 
cause men hick laith. Men do not believe in 
one another. Men have not confidence in 
each other's phms, schemes, enterprises, UKMh- 
ods. There is a distrust out oi' \Nhich is hovn 
timidity; out oT wliich comes fear; out ol' 
which springs a panic. 

The larmer, \hc merchant, the mechanic, 
tlie L'lwyer, llie ih^^toi-, the teaeiier, ;dl ehisses 
and conditions ol* men in civilized communi- 
ties, live and conduct their business, tiieir 
vocations, their professions and their trades, 
by laitli. Faith, therefore, is not limited to 
religion — it is a universal jninciple. All men 
have, must have, laiih. Life, in organized 
communities, is impossible without faith. I do 
not say — note well my words— I do not say 
that all have faith in God, that all believe 



The Faith that Saves, 23 

in Jesus Christ Our Lord. There are some 
who do not believe in God. There are men 
who reject Jesus as Lord. Ikit men must 
believe, men must have faith, in something 
or somebody. Without faith it is impossible 
for them to live together. 

Let us now open the New Testament and 
see what it has to say as to the value of 
faith. A few familiar texts must suffice. 
Jesus says in the great commission as written 
by Mark, '^Ile that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall 
be condemned." (Mark xvi. 16.) In these 
words belief is mad(? a condition of salvation; 
the absence of faith is mentioned as the ground 
of condemnation. The writer of the Epistle 
to the Hebrews (Hebrews xi. 6) says that 
without faith it is impossible to please God, 
and that he who comes to God must believe 
that God exists and that he has a reward 
for those who diligentlv seek him. So far as 
the importance of faith is concerned, this 
language can not, by comment, be made [)]ainer. 
The simple, straightforward proposition is that 
it. is impossible to please God without faith. 



•Jt The \\\iy of Salvation. 

ir a man \n\uos with \\\c ohiiroli ^vitlu^ut 
faith, tho act is not acooptablo to (^hI. Ii" 
ono is bapti/ovl wiilivun faith, ii doos not 
ploaso GvhI. If llu^ Lorti > lablo i< approaohinl 
aiul if tl\o Konis suppor is oaioa without 
linth, (lod i>^ luu ploast^l. 

In anvMhor plaoo ^l\\Mn. xiv. *J8) it is said 
iliai \Nhai>vHnor i> not of faitli is sin. 'Iho 
word "must** is omph\vovl in Uio to\t oiud 
tVom iho Kpisllo to iho Hobrow^. llo ilwi 
eomoih to l»od mM.</ boliovo— nv^t may but 
must. W' >o i^vHHl as iv> v>b>vM"\o, ^inoo il\o>o 
v^oripturos aro i^iven bv iiv^piration of (Jod, 
that this is a IMvino "nuisi." Tho word tMu- 
plovinl sii:;nitio> nooessitv. \> tiovl himself 
siiYs, U is nccossury, absolutely essential, !lia< 
whoevor wvuiUi ovmuo to CuhI aeoopiably should 
believe that ho is, ai\il that he is a rowaiiler 
of those w l\o dilii;::ently >ooK him. 

The prison keeper ii\ Philippi exclaimeil at 
tho midnii^du hour, "Sh^, what must I do lo 
be savovr* (Aets xvi. Si)), The >ame woixi is 
employ ihI as in I he passage quoltni ftx^m the 
llth ehapter of the Epistle lo tho Hobivws. 
"What must I do" said this alarmed man. 



The Faith that Saves. 25 

The answer of Paul, an ambassador of Jesus 
Christ, was that he must believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ. P^rom Paul's point of view, this 
is what the unbeliever must do in order to 
be saved. I speak of Paul as an "ambassador" 
of Christ; he thus designates himself. An 
ambassador, according to Webster, is a min- 
ister of the highest rank. The word employed 
bv Paul mav mean nolhinp; more than an 
elderly person, an aged man, or, as we would 
say, an elder in the church of Christ. But 
he does not leave us in doubt of his meaning 
when he calls himself an ambassador. In the 
^5econd Epistle to the Corinthians, at the 5<h 
chapter and 20th verse, he says, "We are am- 
bassadors for Christ, as though God did be- 
seech you by us we pray you in Christ's 
stead be ye reconciled to Cod." 

You will obsei've that Paul explains that 
his word is as if CJod were speaking. Ilis 
entreaty is as if Clirist himself were pleading. 
^^'hen he calls himself an ambassador for 
Christ he means therefore to produce the 
impression that he spoke for CJod, for Christ. 
Men discuss essentials and non-essentials in 



26 The Way of Salvation. 

their reasonings on the subject of sahation. 
When a man occupying the position of Paul 
says that a certain thing must be, that fact 
phices it anuHig the things essential to salva- 
tion. But Paul, in effect, says to the prison 
keeper in Philippi, you must believe— this is 
one thino: with \vhich vou are not at liberty 

CD \. t. 

to dispense, if you will enter into the poss- 
ession 'and enjoyment of salvation. 

The word "essential" has in this connection 
been employed. What does it mean? What 
do I mean when I say that faith is essential 
to salvation? I intend to be understood as 
saying that this is New Testament doctrine, 
and this again means that to every rational 
person who possesses ability to ]>elieve, who 
possesses what may be called the faith faculty 
and who hears the Gospel, faiih is an indis- 
pensable condition of salvation, and the faith 
which Paul said was essential to salvation, 
was belief in Jesus Christ. '^Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" 
(Acts xvi. 31). This is enough as to the im- 
portance of faith. 

Now, if faith possesses supreme value in the 



The Faith thai Saves, 27 

matter which to every human being is of 

transcendent imp<')rtance, we ought certainly 

to spend time in inquiring into its nature. 

Po]lok tells us that: 

"Faith was bewilder'd much by men \^'hQ meant 
To make it clear, so simple in itself, 
A thought so rudi.mental and so plain. 
That none by comment could it plainer make 
All faith was one. In objectt not in kind. 
The difference lay. The faith that saved a soul. 
And that which in the common truth believed, 
In essence were the same. Hear, then, what 

faith. 
True Christian faith, w^hich brought salvation, 

was: 
Belief in all that God revealed to men; 
Observe: — in all that God reveal'd to men 
In all he promised, threaten'd, commanded, said. 
Without exception, and without a doabt." 
Pollok's "Course of Time," Book VIII., p. 189. 

While some things in this quotation may 
not be defensible, the general trend of thought 
is correct. The difference between the faith 
which men exercise in the common affairs of 
life, and that by which the soul is saved, is 
rather in the thing believed than in the man- 
ner of exercising faith. 

To bring out the nature of the faith l)y 



28 The Way of Salvation, 

which deliverance from sin is wrought, let us 
observe the principle at work. How does a 
man act when under the influence of faith 
in God? A few illustrations from ihe Bible 
will contain the answer to this question. 
"Abel believed in God and otfered" (Genesis 4). 
"Abel believed in God and offered sacrifice" 
(Hebrews xi. 4). "As a I'esult of his faith he 
offered an excellent sacrifice." We are told 
that because of his belief (Hebrews xi. 4) his 
sacrifice was more acceptable to God than 
was ihe ofi'ering of his brother Cain. 

As a result of Enoch's faith he walked 
with God (Genesis v. 22). The writer of the 
?]pistle to the Hebrews says (Hebrews xi. 5) 
that "bv faith Enoch was translated." The 
writer of ihe Book of Genesis (v. 24) says that 
"God took him." But before God "took him" 
he "walked with God," and this "walk with 
God" was on account of his faith. 

Noah was a man of faith. God commanded 
him to build an ark. He told him ihe kind 
of vessel he would have built. The historian 
says that "according to all that God commanded 
him so did he" (Genesis vi. 22). "And Noah 



The Fuiih that Saves, 29 

dkl according unto all that the Lord commanded 
him" (Genesis vii. 5). "And the Lord said unto 
Noah, Come tliou and all thy house into the 
aik" (Genesis vii. 1). "And Noah went in, 
aiid his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives 
with him, into tire ark" (Genesis vii. 7). "And 
God spake unto Noah saying, go forth of the 
ark, i,hou, and ihy wife, and thy sons and thy 
sons' wives with thee" (Genesis viii. 15-16). 
"And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his 
wife, and his sons' wives with him" (Genesis 
viii. 18). This man "Noah was a just man and 
perfect in his generations, and Noah walked 
with God" (Genesis vi. 9). After he came out 
of the aik "Noah builded an altar unto the 
Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of 
every clean fowl, and oifered burnt offerings 
on the altar" (Genesis \iii. 20). The Lord 
was so pleased with \he conduct of his servant 
that hesaid:'"! \\ ill not again curse the ground 
any more for man's sake" (Genesis viii. 21). 
And God said: "I establish my covenant with 
vou, and with vour seed after vou'' (Genesis 
ix. 9). 

All of this was si-mply faith in operation, 



30 The Way of Salvation, 

for we read (Hebrews xi. 7) that "by faith 
Noah, being warned of God of things not seen 
as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to 
the saving of his house; by the which he con- 
demned the world, and became heir of the 
righteousness which is by faith." But time 
would fail me to tell of Abraham, and Isaac, 
and Jacob, and Sara, and Moses, and Joshua, 
and Joseph, and Rahab, and Gedeon, arid Barak, 
and Samson, and Jephihae, and David, and 
Solomon, and Paul, and Peter, and James, and 
John. These, all under tlK3 inlluence of faith, 
were promptly and exactly obedient to every 
command of CJod. 

In the 4th chapter of the epistle to (he 
saints in Home (verse 21) the faiih of Abraham 
is described as a firm persuasion that what 
God had promised he was able also to per- 
form, and it was this faith, acccu'ding to Paul, 
(verse 22) which was imputed to him for 
righteousness. 

In some passages in the New Testament 
the object of faith is a fact or facts, in others 
a person. In the lOth chapter of Romans 
(verses 9, l(^) we are told that if a man will 



The Faith that Savjs. 31 

believe in his heart that God raised Jesus 
from the dead and will confess with his mouth 
this belief, he will be saved. Since with the 
heart men believe unto righteousness and with 
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 
The specified object of faith in this place is 
the fact of our Lord's resurrection, but in 
Paul's instruction to the jailer in Philippi 
(Acts xvi. 31) the Son of God himself is the 
object of faith. The explanation is as follows: 
Before one can believe on or in a person, 
there must be something known and believed 
concerning the one who is the object of faith. 
To receive as true the Gospel facts, to believe 
that Jesus died for our sins, to believe that 
he rose again the third day according to the 
Scriptures, must, of necessity, precede confi- 
dence in him. If these things are true con- 
cerning Him, then he is abundantly able to per- 
form all that he has promised. If He is able, he 
is certainly willing, else he would not have 
promised, therefore I can trust him, and do, 
to deliver me from sin and its consequences 
and bring me home at last. This seems to 
have been the nature of Paul's faith, for he 



32 The Way of Salvalion. 

says (11. Timothy i. 12) I know in whom, not 
what, but whom, 1 have believed, and am per- 
suaded that He is able to keep what I have 
committed unto him. 

There are degrees of faith, for we read in 
the New Testament (Matt. viii. 10) of g;reat 
faith; (Matt. viii. 26) little faith; (Rom. xiv. 1) 
weak faith; (Luke xvii. 6) of faith as a grain 
of mustard seed; and the disciples prayed 
(Luke xvii. 5) for an increase of faith. 

The story of the beginning of faith in Christ 
as told in the 1st chapter of John is both in- 
teresting and instructive. John the Baptist 
was in the midst of his ministry, and a com- 
mittee of priests and Levites from the Jews 
was sent to interview him. He told this com- 
mittee candidly that he was neither the Christ, 
Elias nor that prophet. He said that he was 
merely a voice, calling attention to one so 
far superior to him that he was not worthy 
to unloose the latchet of his shoes. The dav 
after this interview, when John saw Jesus, 
he called attention lo him as the Lamb of 
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 
A little later, apparently on the same day, 



The Faith that Saves, SS 

he declared that Jesus was the Son of God. 
The day following he called the attention of 
two of his disciples to Jesus, and commended 
him to them as the Lamb of God. These Di^?- 
ciples at once followed Jesus. Andrew was one 
• of them. He told his brother Simon that he 
thought he had found the Messias. Peter in 
this way was led to believe in Jesus so far 
as to go with him and receive insti'uction. 

On the next day after, Jesus invited a man 
named Philip to accompany him. Philip did 
so. He was, with Andrew and Peter and John, 
the first three disciples of Chi'ist, a citizen 
of Bethsaida. Philip said to a man named 
Nathanael, I think I have found the one of 
whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, 
did write. I fancy I see the look of scorn 
pass over the face of Nathanael as he said in 
reply to this suggestion, "Can there any good 
thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip w^as a 
man of such good common sense that he simply 
said, "Come and see." A very brief interview 
with Jesus satisfied Nathanael that the person 
to whom Philip had called his attention was 
the Son of God, the King of Israel, i 



34 The Way of Salvation, 

Jesus and his five disciples attended a wed- 
ding. At the mari'iage in Cana He turned 
water into wine. His disciples believed on 
him (John ii. 11). This beginning of faith was 
exceedingly simple, but it increased in iorge- 
ncs*^.. in intelligence, in intensity, in clearness, 
until it became what we see described in ihe 
writings of John the Heh:)ved, and Simon Peter 
a servant and an apostle of Jesus Chi-ist. ^See 
also the beginnings of faith in the converts to 
Christ,, under the preaching of the apostles, 
after ihe return of their Lord to heaven. In 
Jerusalem Peter preached (Acts ii. 22) that 
Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of C;!od 
by miracles, and wonders and signs. He told 
the people that they put Jesus to death (verse 
23), but (verse 32) God raised hi.m from the 
dead. Therefore, (\'erse 30) let all the house 
of Israel know assuredly, that Cuxl hath made 
that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both Lord 
and Christ. This was what was preached and 
what was believed in Jerusalem on the occa- 
sion of the first Pentecost after the ascension 
and coronation of Messiah, and where ever the 
Gospel was preached in that early period, it 



The Faith that Saves, So 

was preached in this simple style, and where 
ever men were led to believe in Christ, they 
began on this low plane and were led up by 
degrees to a large, intelligent, vigorous, trans- 
forming faith. 

Believing these facts concerning Jesus, a 
great multitude of men obeyed him as both 
Lord and Christ. We therefore read (Acts ii. 
41) that those who gladly received as tru£ 
the declarations of Simon Peter concerning 
the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, 
his exaltation to a place at the right hand of 
God, the fact that he was Loi'd over all and 
the Christ, were baptized. Thus they entered 
the way of salvation. How simple and rational 
the beginning! From what has .been said it 
must be apparent to all that the faith by which 
men are saved is a product of testimjony. The 
faith of all to whom reference has been made 
came by heai-ing (see Rom. x. 17). If faith is 
begotten in this way, and if faith possesses 
the importance in the matter of salvation which 
is here ascribed to it; if, without faith, it is 
impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6); if men 
must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order 



36 The Way of Salvation, 

to be saved (Acts xvi. 30); 31); how zealous 
and diligent and persistent ought disciples of 
Christ to be in preaching the Gospel to the 
whole creation! How can men believe in Him 
of whom they have not heard (Rom. x. 14). 
God help those who believe in Christ to be 
obedient to him when he commands ihem (Mark 
xvi. 15; Matt, xxviii. 18-20; Luke xxiv. 47; 
John XX. 21) to preach the Gospel to the whole 
creation, to make disciples of all nations, to 
proclaim repentance and remission of sins in 
his name, to go to the world with a message 
of love under his authority as he came with 
a similar message from Our Father in Heaven. 
Amen. 



REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. 

"God * * * commandeth all men everywhere 
to repent." — Acts xvii. 30. 

This is the language of Paul in Athens. The 
words quoted are in a discourse delivered by 
the great preacher to an audience of culti- 
vated idolaters. The opportunity to preach 
in Athens came about in this way : Paul was 
detained in the capital of Greece en route 
fram Thessalonica to Corinth, waiting for Si- 
las and Timothy, his companions in labor. The 
spirit of the good man was stirred within 
him when he saw the city full of idols. Pe- 
tronius said, satirically, that it was easier to 
find a god than a man in x\thens. Pausanias 
declared that Athens had more images than 
all the rest of Greece put together. Xenophon 
affirmed that the whole city was an altar 
and a votive offering to the gods. 

The city was not wholly given to idolatry, 
as in our English version, but it was full of 

37 



o8 The Way of Salvation, 

idols. There was, ^^^e know, a Jewish syna- 
gogue in x\thens. In it Paul pi-eached. In 
the market-places also Paul met with and dis- 
coursed to the people. In these places he met, 
daiJy, devout men. In the market-places phi- 
losophers heard him. They said, "What will 
this babbler say?" The Epicureans and Stoics 
of Athens entertained but a poor opinion of 
Paul. The word which thev emploved to de- 

t. It. 

scribe him may be translated by the word 
"chatterer." It is defined by Strong in his "Ex- 
haustive Concordance" by the words "sponger," 
"loafer," especially a "gossip or trifler in talk." 
The substance of Paul's discourses, formal 
and informal, in the synagogue and in the 
market-places, was the substance of his dis- 
coui'ses everywhere during the entire period 
of his ministry, that is, "Jesus and the resur- 
rection." Because Paul spoke of the resur- 
rection, some wei'e of the opinion that he was 
a proclaimel of st range gods. After a time 
spent in ihe synagogues and in the market- 
places, with the people, Paul received an in- 
vitation to deliver an address on this new 
doctrine befoj'e the highest judicial court in 



Repentance unto Life, 39 

Athens. The historian explains (Acts xvii. 21) 
that the invitation was extended, not on ac- 
count of a desire to know the way of life, 
but because all the Athenians and strangers 
who w^ere in Athens spent their time in noth- 
ing else but either to tell or to hear some 
new thing. 

, Of this fact Paul, probably, was not igno- 
rant. He accepted the invitation, and delivered 
an address in which he reminded the curi- 
ositv seekers w^ho were before him that God 
now commands all men everywhere to repent. 
Doubtless they discovered, as the discourse 
proceeded, that this preacher was no "chat- 
terer," no "gossip," no "trifler," as they had 
vainly thought, but an intensely earnest man, 
with a supremely solemn, and transcendently 
important message from the God who made all 
things, and who is Lord of heaven and earth.' 

: What a consunimate politician w^as Paul! 
He began his discourse with a word well cal- 
culated to secure the respectful, if not sym- 
pathetic attention of his audience. He toH 
them that they were very religious; in fact, 
that they were more religious than others. 



40 The Way of Salvation. 

The word which he employed signifies liter- 
ally "verv reverent to demons." The reason 
why he thus speaks of them is the fact that 
as he passed by and observed their objects of 
veneration, he saw an altar on which had been 
insci'ibed Greek words, signifying: "To an un- 
known god." He immediately added (Acts xvii. 
23): "whom, therefore, not knowing, ye rev- 
erence—him I announce to you." 

In this tactful way the God who made the 
world and all things therein; the God who 
dwells not in temples made with men's hands; 
the God who is not worshiped with men's 
hands as though in need; the God who gives 
to all life, and breath, and all things; the 
God who hath made of one all nations; the 
God in whom we live, and move and have 
our beino:; the God whose children we are— 
in this adroit manner did Paul introduce the 
stibject of his discourse. He assured his au- 
dience that what he had to say concerning 
God and his paternal* relations to men was no 
new doctrine, because certain also of their 
own poets had said, "For_ we are also his ofT- 
spring." 



Repentance unto Life. 41 

',:, The reference here is pi'obably to the poet 
Arratus, who lived about 270 vears before 
Christ. But other Gi*eek poets had said sub- 
stantially the same. Clean thes, who lived about 
300 years before Christ, used vei'y neai'ly the 
same language in a well known h\mn to Ju- 
piter. Flato, in the same spirit, declared that 
"Cod is the father of noble children;" and Plu- 
farch that "ihe soul is not only made by him, 
but begotten by him." Observe, please, that 
Paul does not quote the Bible, but a heathen 
])oet. He quotes as authority ihat which he 
knew his audience would accept as such. Hav- 
ing fortified his position by a quotafion from 
one of their own authors, he proceeds to say 
(Acts xvii. 28): "Forasmuch Jien as we are 
the offspring of Cod, we ought not to think 
that the Codhead is like unto gold, or silver, 
or stone, graven by art and man's device." 

The Athenians confessed their ignorance of 
the Deity whom Paul preached when they 
placed the insci'iption on the altar to which 
the preacher referred in the beginning of 
his discourse. They could not, '.herefore, be 
offended \Nhen he employed their own woi'd, 



42 The Way of Salvation. 

and said in the next sentence that "(he times 
of this ignorance God winked at; but now 
comniandeth all men e\ei'y where to repent." 
The reason why men ought to repent is im- 
mediately given in the words following: "Be- 
cause He hath appointed a day in which he 
will judge the \\orld in righteousness by that 
man whom he hath ordained." (Acts xvii. 31). 
Evidence of this is found in the fact that Gwod 
raised this man from among the dead. Thus 
*' Jesus and the resuirection," Paul's univej'sal 
theme, is skillfully introduced. Wiiat he had 
said in the synagogue and in the mar'ket- 
places about Jesus and the resurrection caused 
the philosophers to charactei ize him as "a chat • 
t?erer," ^'a gossip," "a triflei'." 

So, on Mars* hill, \\hen he spoke of Jesus 
and the resui'reciion, "some mocked." The 
word signifies "to *hrow out the lip." When 
Paul pi'eached on Mai's' hill, befoie the high- 
est judicial court of Athens, some jeered. 
How his courage must have been tried! Oth- 
ers, however, were respectful (Acts xvii. 32), 
and expressed a desire and determination to 
hear him again on this subject. A few con- 



^ Repentance unto Life. 43 

verts, we know, were gained. The names of 
some are given, but w^e do not read in the 
New Testament of the Church of God in Ath- 
ens. The preacher, however, enjoyed the sw^eet 
consciousness of duty performed under trying 
circumstances, and the sermon delivered that 
day in the capital of Greece, before an audi- 
ence of jeering idolators, has been heard by 
myriads through all the intervening centuries, 
and we to-dav come to2:ether that we mav 
listen to and consider reverently the com- 
mand that comes from God to all men every- 
where to repent of sin.' ' 

This was no new dutv for the first time 
made known by Paul. The prophets had pro- 
claimed repentance. Again and again, in the 
former dispensation, this had been solemnly 
enjoined on sinful men,* as well as in the 
preaching of John the Baptist, Jesus, the 
twelve and the seventy. The burden of their 
preaching was the duty of repentance in view 
of the approaching i^eign of heaven. 

The importance of repentance is constantly 
presented in the Old Testament and in the 
New. On one occasion some persons approached 



44 The Way of Salvation, 

Jesus for the purpose of calling his attention 
to eeriain Galileans whose blood PJlate h^id 
mingled, a^ they said, with their religious of- 
ferings. They probably spoke to Him also about 
eighteen men who had lost their lives by the 
fall of the tower in Siloam. Jesus told them 
that if they thought the persons to whom 
they I'eferred w^ere sinners above all the tJali- 
leans, or above all men th^it dwelt in Jeru- 
salem, they were in error. "pLxcept ye re- 
pent,'' lie said H^uke xiii. 3, 5), "ye shall all 
likewise perish." This was equivalent to, "you 
must repent or perish." "Except" as Jesus used 
it, signifies the same as "must." Take, as an ex- 
ample, language used in His conversation with 
Nicodemus. To this erudite rabbi Jesus said 
(John iii. 3), "Except a man be born again 
he can not see the kingdom of God." And again 
He said (John iii. 5), "Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter 
into the kingdom of God." But further along 
in the interview Jesus is represented as sav- 

I t. 

ing (John iii. 7), "Mai'vel not that I said unto 
thee ve must be born a2:ain." In these words 
He explains his meaning when above he said 



Repentance unto Life. 45 

''except a man be born again," "except a man 
be born of water," etc. He only, however, 
said "ye must be born again." when he em- 
ployed the language quoted from verses 3 and 5. 

The Master said also (Luke xxiv. 47) that 
"repentance and remission of sins" should be 
preached in his name among all nations, be- 
ginning at Jerusalem. In these words our 
Lord places repentance before remission as a 
condition. He joins them together as condi- 
tion and consequent, and "what God hath joined 
together let no' man put asunder." No man 
has a right to expect for himself, or to offer 
to another, forgiveness without repentance. 

Simon Peter so understood the subject, for 
when he preached "remission of sins" in Je- 
rusalem (Acts ii. 38) he named repentance as 
a condition. Happily the teaching of the New 
Testament is so plain on this point that there 
is among Christians but one voice— no repent- 
ance, no remission. 

But what is repentance? Let the fact be 
noted that words in the Bible, as in other 
literature, ancient and modern, sacred and 
secular, are not used always and everywhere 



46 The Way of Salvation. 

in exactly the same sense. A word is used, 
sometimes in a broader, sometimes in a nar- 
rower signification. In a certain connection 
a word signifies appai'ently almost the oppo- 
site of the meaning which it bears in another 
connection. There is probably no exception 
to this statement concerning various signifi- 
cations to be found in the use of anv word 
in the Bible. The meaning of a woi'd depends 
largely on the connection in which it stands. 
Take the most common Bible words, and see 
that this is true. Look, if you please, at the 
words "faith," "conversion," "regeneration," 
and even the word "baptism." There is, of 
course, in each of these words a root-mean- 
ing which is to be found in some way and 
to some extent in all of its occurrences. But 
there are shades of meaning, and sometimes 
the variations are very marked, as liefore in- 
timated, which depend upon the connection 
in which the term is employed. In attempt- 
ing, therefore, to discover the specific duty 
enjoined by the command to repent, let us 
not lose sight of this fiict. To tell what re- 
pentance is not, is an easy task. 



Repentance unto Life. 47 

First, Repentance is not simply sorrow. 
The people to whom Simon Peter preached 
with such wonderful power in Jerusalem on 
the 2?reat Pentecost occasion, were verv sorrv 
when they cried out (Acts ii. 37), "Men ! Breth- 
ren! What must we do!" He commanded ihem 
to repent. More, then, than simply sorrow^ is 
required, when God issues his command to 
all men everywhere. 

Second, Nor is repentance the same as godly 
sorrow. Paul tells us (II. Cor. vii. 10) that 
"godly sorrow worke^.h repentance," but if it 
works repentance, it is not the experience 
called repentance any more than a road lead- 
ing to a given place is the place itself. 

Third, Repentance is not reformation. The 
original word is never so translated, in our 
common English version, although in "The 
Living Oracles," an edition of the New Testa- 
ment compiled by Alexander Campbell from 
translations made by George Campbell, Philip 
Doddridge and James McKnight, the words 
"reform" and "reformation" are used instead 
of the words repent and repentance. 

Paul preached the word to the jailer and 



48 The Way of Salvation, 

his house in Philippi. When one preaches 
tlie Word of the Lord he proelaim5?, of necessity, 
repentance. Isaiah predicted (chap. ii. verse 3) 
that the Word of the Lord Avould go forth 
from Jei'usalem. The Master said (Luke xxiv. 
47) that i^epentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name "among all 
nations beginning at Jerusalem." Luke says 
(Acts xvi. 32) that Paul preached "the Word of 
the Lord" to the jailer and to all ^vho were 
in his house. There can be no doubt that he 
commanded this man to repent, nor can there 
be any doubt ihat he iej)ented. Now, what- 
ever repentance is, the command can be obeyed 
in a verv short time. "The same hour of the 
night" (Acts xvi. 33) this poor ignorant pagan 
was baptized, but will anyone claim that he was 
baptized before he repented? His bearing to- 
ward Paul and Silas shows that a radical change 
had come over him. A few hours before, ha\ ing 
received a charge to keep these men safely (Acts 
xvi. 23), he threw ( verse 24) them into the inner 
prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. 
But now — how tender! He washes their sti-ipes; 
he spreads a table for them (vei'se 34). 



Repentance unto Life, 49 

If ever a man gave evidence of genuine 
evangelical repentance the prison keeper in 
Philippi did so. But he repented in less than 
an hour. He certainly repented before he was 
baptized. But he was baptized the same hour 
in which he brought Paul and Silas out of the 
prison and inquired what he must do to be 
saved. There was no time for reformation, 
there was time for repentance, therefore re- 
pentance is not the same as reformation. 

The same statement may be made with equal 
truth concerning the three thousand in Jeru- 
salem, who, in a single day, entered the way 
of salvation. They were told to repent (Acts 
ii. 38), and they did repent. They repented 
in less than a day. Their repentance pre- 
ceded their baptism, but (Acts ii. 4-1) they 
that "gladly received the woi'd" of the preacher 
were baptized, so that the same day three 
thousand w^ere added to the original one hun- 
dred and twenty. There was time here' for 
repentance, but not for reformation of life. 

Repentance, however, must issue in reforma- 
tion. John the Baptist told the Pharisees and 
Sadducees who came to his baptism (Matt. iii. 8) 



50 The ^Vay of Salvation. 

to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. He 
told the men who had two coats to give to 
those who had none (Luke iii. 11). He told 
the publicans to exact no more than belonged 
to them (Luke iii. 13). He required soldiers 
to do violence to no man, and to be content 
with their wages (Luke iii. 14). These in- 
structions were in immediate connection with 
his exhortation to bring forth fruits meet for 
repentance (Luke iii. 8), and showed the char- 
acter of the reformation which follows a genu- 
ine evangelical repentance. 

Reformation must follow repentance. Zac- 
cheus said (Luke xix, 8) that half of his goods 
he would give to the poor, and if he had taken 
anvthinii: from anv man bv false accusation, 
he would restore fourfold. Jesus was so well 
pleased with this state of mind that ho com- 
mended Zaccheus (Luke xix. 9). 

Reformation must follow repentance. When 
the people of f]phesus repented under the 
preaching of Paul, those who had used curious 
arts (Acts xix. 19) brou'ii^ht their boolrs to,2;ether 
and burned them before all men. In this sig- 
nificant manner thev (Uclareci ihoir obedience 



Repentance unto Life, 51 

— their determination to i-eform iheir lives. 

In the experience called repentance, one 
takes the following steps: First, There is a 
knowledge of sin. Second, There is a soi-row 
over sin. Third, There is a desire to amend 
one's ways. Foui-th, There is a determination, 
God helping, to (Isaiah i. 16, 17) "cease to do 
evil," to "learn to do well." It is only when the 
human will submits to the Divine will that 
the command to repent is obeyed. 

Evangelical repentance, the repentance en- 
joined in the Gospel, the repentance which 
is unto life, may be defined as a change of 
mind. Specifically, a change of the part of 
the mind denominated the will. A change 
produced by sorrow for sin. A change so 
thorough as to lead to reformation of life. 
In one sentence then, repentance is a change 
of the will towai^d God, produced by sorrow 
for sin, and issuing in a new life. 

The motive to I'epentance is, according to 
Paul (Rom. ii. 4,) "the goodness of God," the 
goodness of God is exhibited in the Gospel of 
his grace. The Gospel message tells us that 
God so loved the world as to give his Son. 



52 The \yay of Salvaiion, 

The same Bible tells us (Kom. v. 8) that ^^God 
commended his love toward us in that while 
we were yet sinners Christ died for us." In 
the First Epistle of John (iv. 19) "the beloved" 
disciple explains that our love to God, and 
consequent submission to him, is a result of 
his love to us. It is in this way that men aro 
moved to the experience which is called re- 
pentance, out of which comes reformation of 
life. 

It is probably foi' this reason that repent- 
ance is spoken of as a gift (Acts v. 31) by 
Simon Peter when he says that God exalted 
Jesus to be a Prince and a Saviour "to g;ive 
repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." 
God gives repentance by giving exhibitions 
of his goodness calculated to move men to re- 
pentance. 

The duty of which I have been speaking is 
bv no means limited to those who are aliens 
from the commonwealth of Israel. When Si- 
mon, the sorcerer, who was baptized in Sama- 
ria by Philip, the evangelist, (Acts viii. 13) 
fell into sin he was told (Acts viii. 22) to re- 
pent of his wickedness. He was a baptized 



Repentance unto Life, 53 

believer, but weak and sinful. So also in the 
Epistles of the Seven Churches (Rev. ii. and iii.) 
comes again and again from the head of the 
body an admonition to repent (See Rev. ii. 
5,16, 21, and iii. 3). So that ihe command 
described as being for "all men everywhere" 
is to be interpreted in the largest way. "All 
meii everywhere" includes men in the church 
and men out of the church — men out of the 
church and men in the church includes all 
who sin. 

God help us so to consider his goodness 
that we will be moved to sincerely repent of 
our sins from day to day, and to confess the 
same, thus continually growing in grace, and 
becoming; more and morettruly children of God. 
Amen. 



CONFESSION UNTO SALVATION. 

"With the mouth confession is made unto sal- 
vation." — Rom. X. 10. 

Paul in this place locates a confession of 
belief before salvation-, and names such con- 
fession as a condition of deliverance from sin. 
The preposition immediately preceding the 
^vord salvation indicates motion or movement 
toward. The confession of the mouth with a 
heart faith (hat God hath raised Jesus from 
the dead, is a step in the direction of salva- 
tion. 

The faith contemplated in this statement is 
a belief in the heart— with the heart man be- 
lieveth unto righteousness (Rom. x. 10). A 
mere intellectual reception of the proposition 
as true is not the faith which results in right- 
eousness. Such a faith, so far as salvation is 
concerned, is dead. In the memorabilia of 
John (John xii. 42, 43) we are told that many 
of the chief rulers believed on the Christ, 

54 



Confession unto Salvation, 55 

but because of the Phai'isees thov did not 
confess him. The difTieulty with the faith of 
the chief rulers in this ease was that it did 
not enlist iheir affection — they loved the praise 
of men more than the praise of God. In other 
words, the chief rulers did not believe on 
Christ with the heart. 

While it is ti'ue that without faith it is im- 
possible to please God (Heb. xi. 6), it is also 
true that faith alone does not suit his de- 
mands. There must be more than simple be- 
lief on the part of any who are determined to 
please God. There must be, at least, in addi- 
tion to this, confession with the mouth. There 
is not so much as an intimation on the part 
of Jesus, or any whom he authorized to speak 
for him, that a simple belief, that a simple 
intellectual apprehension of facts and truths, 
is all that is required in order to acceptance 
with God. The people in Jerusalem, on the 
great Pentecost day, who inquired what to do 
in order to obtain remission of sins, believed 
as a result of the argument which they had 
just heard that God had raised Jesus from 
the dead, and they believed that he was both 



56 The Way of Salvation, 

Lord and Christ. Now, why did not the 
preacher tell these anxious inquirers that 
this was quite suflicient — that they ali'eady 
had remission. lie commanded them in ad- 
dition to iheir faitii (Acts ii. 38) to repent 
and be bapMzed for the remissron of sins. 

James says (James ii. 26) that faith with- 
out works is dead. Abraham was justified 
by faiih, but (James ii. 21) it was when he 
ofl'ered Isaac, his son, on the altar. It was 
then (James ii. 23) ihat ihe Scripture was 
fulfilled, which saith Abraham believed C^d, 
and it was imputed to him for I'ighteousness, 
and he was called the friend of God. 

Paul condemned men (Titus i. 16) who pro- 
fessed to know God, but who, in iheir lives, 
wei'e disobedient, lie says that such persons 
i-eallv denv God. Thev are characterized bv 
him as damnable and I'eprobate. You would 
not infer from what Paul says in this passage 
that he intended to teach that if a man sim- 
ply believed certain propositions, such as that 
God raised Jesus fi-om the dead, he would, in 
that instant, and on that condition alone, en- 
ter into a state of salvation. 



Confession unto Salvation. 57 

In the roll-eall of the faithful, in the eleventh 
chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, every 
person named as a hero of faith is repre- 
sented as being promptly and fully obedient 
to God, and this obedience alone was sufQ- 
cient evidence of the sincerity of their faith. 

And is it not Paul M'ho in our text to-day 
declares that in addition to a belief, even in 
the heart, that God raised Jesus from the 
dead, there must be a confession with the 
mouth in order to salvation? 

Jesus taught that a public confessi^on was 
a condition of acceptance when he said to 
the twelve, as he sent them out the first 
time (Matt. x. 32), that whosoever shall confess 
me before men, him will I confess also before 
my Father who is in heaven, but whosoever 
shall deny me (that is, disavow me) before 
men, him will 1 also deny (that is, disavow, 
reject) before my Father in heaven. The Son 
of God not only requires men to believe, but 
to confess. During His personal ministry among 
men, the Jews understood the importance of 
a confession with the mouth, for they agreed 
(John ix. 22) that if anv man did confess 



58 The Way of Salvation. 

that Jesus was the Christ he should be put 
out of the synagogue. 

In Caesarea Philippi Jesus inquired of his 
disciples (Matt. xvi. 13), Whom do men say 
that I, the Son of man, am? The replies were 
as various as were the opinions of the people. 
The question is, after a time, repeated with 
greater definiteness (Matt. xvi. 15), But whom 
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter (verse 16) 
answered and said Thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the Living God. Now, what was the Mas- 
ter's estimate of this confession? Was He 
pleased oi- displeased with the declaration of 
faith made by Simon Peter? His own woi'ds 
contain the answer to this inquiry. Jesus an- 
swered (Matt. xvi. 17, 18) and said unto him 
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but 
my Father which is in heaven. And I say 
also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my church; and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

The truth stated in the confession of faith 
made by Simon Peter was so important, was 
a truth of so much value, that the Son of Man 



Confession unto Salvation. 59 

at once declared his purpose to build his church 
on it as on a rock against which the gates of 
hell would never prevail. 

Much time has been spent in discussing 
whether Jesus said that on Peter he would 
build his church. We have no minutes to 
spend in a war of words, a mere logomachy. 
What saith the Scriptures? Is it affirmed in 
any part of the New Testament that ihe 
Church of Christ rest-s on Simon Peter as its 
foundation? Paul is verv explicit. He savs 
(I. Cor. iii. 11) that other foundation can no 
man lay than that which is laid, which is Je- 
sus Christ. In this connection, he is speak- 
ing of the church under the similitude of a 
building;. Men are warned as to how thev 
build on this foundation. These words of Paul 
alone ought to be sufficient to settle the ques- 
tion as to Peter being ihe foundation on which 
our Loi'd said he would build his church. 
Not Peter, but Christ. 

In another passage (Ephesians ii. 20) Paul 
says that saints are built on the foundation 
of the apostles and prophets; Jesus Christ 
himself being the chief corner-stone. This 



60 The Way of Salvation. 

is enough from Paul on this point. What has 
Peter to say? 

;' Speaking (I. Peter ii. 5) of the elect as 
constituting a spiritual house, he says they 
come unto a living stone (verse 4), and that 
Jehovah declares in Scripture (verse 6) Behold 
I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious. 
Now, this stone was a person, for he imme- 
diately adds: He that believeth on (not it, 
but) him shall not be put to shame. Peter 
did not think of himself as the rock on which 
the spiritual house, the true temple of God, 
was built, so he expressly says that the Christ 
was himself the stone which })eing rejected 
of men was chosen of God as the foundation. 
Read the sermons reported in the Book of 
Acts. The foundations of the churches were 
laid in the cities of Jerusalem, Antioch, Cor- 
inth, Philippi, Ephesus, Galatia, Thessalonica, 
Rome. In the discourses reported in the Book 
of Acts is Peter presented as the foundation? 
Name the preacher who in those days preached 
Peter as the object of faith. In which city is 
there even an allusion to him as the founda- 
tion on which the church was to be, or was, 



Confession unto Salvaiion, 61 

built? Nov'here. By whom were men re- 
quired to believe on or confess Peter? 

In this way plain people, unacquainted with 
metiaphysics, ignorant of Greek, are able to 
settle this \exed question for themselves, where 
men of learning and critical acumen are puz- 
zled. 

In the words of the Master to his disciples 
in Caesarea Philippi we are taught the sub- 
stance of the confession. Peter said (Matt, 
xvi. 16), Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
Living God. Let us gather up the various 
confessions of faith found in the New Testa- 
ment, and, adding them together, seek to dis- 
cover the confession with which our Lord 
will be pleased. 

Nathanael said (John i. 49) to Jesus, Thou 
art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel. 
Martha, the sister of Lazarus, said (John xi. 27), 
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of 
God, which should come into the world. As 
we have seen (John ix. 22), the Jews deter- 
mined that if anv member of one of their 
synagogues confessed that Jesus was the Christ 
they would excommunicate him. At the bap- 



62 The Way of Salvation, 

lism of Jesus, God declared (Matt. iii. 17) This 
is my beloved Son iti whom I am well pleased. 
On the mount of transfiguration (Matt. xvii. 5) 
God made the same declaration, adding the 
words. Hear ye Ilim. A familiar passage in 
the 8th chapter of the Book of Acts, the con- 
fession of the Ethiopian, will not be quoted 
because it is universally regarded as spurious. 
The Canterbury critics do not give it a place 
in the revised New Testament, but such an 
interpolation, introduced certainly at an early 
period, suggests the character of the faith and 
confession which in thebeginningofChristianity 
were required in order to baptism. In the 
First Epistle of John (iv. 2, 3) we are told 
that every spirit that confesses that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh is of God, while 
every spirit that confesses not that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, 
and this refusal to confess that Jesus Christ 
is come in the flesh is characterized as anti- 
Christ. This is that spirit of anti-Christ whereof 
ye have heard that it should come. 

On another occasion than the one of which 
we have spoken, Simon Peter made an im- 



Confession unto Salvation. 63 

portant confession. It was after ihe discourse 
in the synagogue in Capernaum (John vi. 24-59) 
on ihe living bread, and on eating His body 
and drinking his blood, which gave such of- 
fence to some of his disciples that they went 
back and walked no more with him. At this 
juncture, turning to the twelve (verse 67), 
Jesus said, Will ye also go away? Simon Peter 
answered {\erses 68,69) Loid, to whom ■ shall 
we go? thou hast the words of eternal life, 
and we believe and are sure that thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the Living God— or, as it is 
in the revised version, Thou art the Holy One 
of God. 

The confession of Thomas must not be passed 
by. This disciple, who was called Didymus, 
had said when his brethren told him that Jesus 
was alive (John xx. 25), "Except I shall see in 
his hands the print of the nails, and put my 
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust 
my hand into his side, I will not believe." But 
when Jesus came to a meeting where Thomas 
was and said (John xx. 27), "Thomas, Reach 
hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and 
reach hither thv hand, and thrust it into mv 



(A The Way of Salvation, 

side; ami bo not laithloss, but boliovinii:," 
Thomas answorod (vorso 'J8), "My Lord and 
my CJod." The Master rocoi\oil iho declara- 
tion as somethiiiii; to which he was entitled, 
and added (verse 'J9), "Thomas, because thou 
hast >een me, tluni ha>t believed: bles>ed are 
they that have not seen, and yet have be- 
lieved." The late VvoW SchatT said ("C'retnls 
of C'hri^tenilom," \"ul. II., ]>ai:;e T)^, that tliis is 
the stroni:i;est apostolic cotifession of faith in 
tiie Lordship and ni\inity of Christ. C'ou- 
ceiMiini:; the confession ol^ Peter (Malt. \vi. 16), 
the same author said (\"ol. IL, pai^e 4) that this 
is the fundamental Christian confession and 
tl\e riK^k oi\ which tlie church is built. 

Colb^ctini:; th.ese various statements, and 
readiui:; then\ toi2;cthcr to the end that, wo 
may have the truth, the wlu>le truth, and noth- 
ing:; but the truth, the conclusion is reacheil 
that our Lord requires tlu^se wlu> would be- 
come his disciples to believe in and ccMifcss 
him as a m;in, as the v*^on ot^ man, as the Christ, 
as the anointed ol^ the Fatlier, anointiHl, a--; it 
is -«aitl (Act'> x. .*^8), with tlu^ Holy Spirit and 
wilh jnnver as the Son of (^nl. 



Confession iinlo Salvation, (');") 

1 The belief embodied in the confession is of 
the heart— since with the heart, man ])elieveth 
unto righteousness. An unobjectionable form, 
therefore, is the following: I believe in my 
heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, 
the Son of the living Cod. Such a declara- 
tion means, also, that I take Jesus as my Sa- 
viour and I desire to obey him. To confess 
Christ truly, is to surrender to him soul, body 
and spirit — is to enter into a solemn covenant, 
to be his. Whoever intelligently confesses 
Christ with the mouth before men, places him- 
self in agreement with him. This is involved 
in the word translated confess and confession. 
The word is defined thus: To speak or say 
the same with another, to say the same things; 
that is, to assent, to accord, to agree with. 
There is in the word the idea of reconcilia- 
tion, harmony. When Jesus is confessed, the 
confessor places himself in accord with Christ, 
a reconciliation is efl'ected, the Son of God is 
victorious, the confessor surrenders. 

For one to confess Chi'ist, as here described, 
is to confess one's sins. It is impossible to 
say intelligently and sincerely, I believe in my 



06 The Way of Salvation. 

heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the 
livino; God, without, at the same time, making 
an acknowledgment of one's sins, and confessing 
the need of a Divine Saviour. 

There is not a more solemn act in which a 
man can engage than to confess Christ. There 
ought to be no surprise felt that Paul spoke 
of the confession as unto salvation. When cor- 
rectly understood, and when made as the New 
Testament requires, it is in fact a step in the 
direction of spiritual help. 

Why not confess Christ? Why not confess 
Christ now? He confessed that he was the Son 
of God, and for that confession was put to 
death. You may confess that he is the Son of 
God, and for that confession move in the direc- 
tion of life. Whosoever shall confess me before 
men, him will I confess. Kiss the Son, lest he 
be angry, and ye perish from the way when 
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are 
all them that put their trust in him. 

"My faith would lay her hand 
Oh that dear head of Thine, 
While like a penitent I stand 
And thus confess my sin." 



BAPTISM AND SALVATION. 

"■Baptism doth also now save us." — I. Peter 
m. 21. 

I wonder why it is that in the evangelistic 
meetings of the present time baptism is passed 
over in silence. It was not so in the apostolic 
times. Is it because the ordinance has been 
abused by certain teachers of Christianity? 
But what doctrine of the New Testament has 
not been perverted! Certainly, it will not be 
contended that the pulpit ought to be silent 
on all subjects mentioned in the New Testa- 
ment which have been misinterpreted and mis- 
applied. Jesus and the apostles spoke of bap- 
tism, and so ought we, and in speaking we 
ought to say what they said. This course, I 
am persuaded, will please Jesus and be en- 
tirely satisfactory to all true believers. 

All Christians believe the statement made by 
Simon Peter which has been selected, as the 
text of the present discourse. His proposition 

67 



08 The Way of Salvation, 

is true. This we all believe. "Baptism saves 
us." To deny this proposition is to deny a 
statement made by a man whom evangelical 
believers hold to have been inspired by the 
Holv Ghost. It would be an insult to vour 
faith, beloved in the Lord, to argue, for even 
a moment, that the Apostle spoke the truth 
when he uttered the words concerning bap- 
tism quoted as the text of this sermon. 

But is this a baptism in water? It is. It 
is something which might be mistaken for the 
putting away of the filth of the flesh, and so 
the writer exphiins that baptism is not this. 
Pso one would, or could, thus mistake a baptism 
in the Holy Spirit. The baptism of which 
Simon Peter speaks in this place must, there- 
fore, be a baptism in water. 

Albert Barnes says in his note on this text: 
"As Noah was saved by water, so there is a 
sense in which water is instrumental in our sal- 
vation. The mention of water in the case of 
Noah in connection with his being saved, by 
an obvious association, suggested to the mind 
of the x\postle the use of water in our salva- 
tion, and hence led him to make the remark 



Baptism and Salvation. 69 

about the connection of baptism with our sal- 
vation." 

Can the form of baptism be detei^mined by 
the context? It can. No one would think for 
an instant that the application of a drop of 
water to the forehead in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spii^it, 
could be for the purpose of putting away the 
filth of the flesh. Immersion might be mistaken 
for this by very ignorant people, but affusion 
never. The statement of the context harmon- 
izes with immersion, but it is out of harmonv 
with any otlier act which has been called 
baptism. Baptism is "not the putting away of 
the filth ot the flesh." 

Now, it is altogether legitimate to inquire 
into the sense in which baptism saves. In 
some sense baptism saves us. Peter so affirms, 
and we subscribe to his affirmation. This 
text seems to some to be out of harmony 
with other passages in which the subject of 
salvation is treated — in which the conditions 
of salvation are named. As illustrations the 
following texts are quoted: "He that believeth 
on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that 



70 The Way of Salvation. 

believeth not the Son shall not see life; but 
the wrath of God abideth on him" (John iii. 
20). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
thou shalt be saved" (Acts xvi. 31). "Be not 
afraid, only believe" (Mark v. 36). "Believe 
only, and she shall be made whole" (Luke 
viii. 50). "Through his name whosoever be- 
lieveth in him shall receive remission of 
sins" (Acts X. 43). 

The value of faith has been presenled in a 
previous discourse, so that it is not at all 
necessai'y in this sermon to say anything on 
that subject. To exaggerate the worth of 
faith would be an exceedingly difficult un- 
dertaking. 

The fact is, salvation in the New Testament 
is attributed to quite a number of things. 
Look at the following: "By, grace are ye saved 
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it 
is the gift of God" (Eph. ii. 8). "God hath 
saved us, and called us with a holy calling, 
not according to our works, but accoi'ding to 
his own purpose and grace" (IL Tim. i. 9). 
"Not by works of righteousness which we 
have done but according to his mercy, he 



\ Baptism and Salvation, 71 

saved us by the washing of regeneration, and 
renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus iii. 5). 
"Save yourselves" (Acts ii. 40). "Work out 
your own salvation with fear and trembling" 
(Philip ii. 12). "The blood of Jesus Christ 
clean^eth from all sin" (I. John i. 7). "The 
Gospel is the power of Cod unto salvation" 
(Rom. i. 16). Thei'e is a repentance, as we 
have seen in a previous discourse, which is 
unto salvation (Ii. Cor. ii. 10). The grace of 
God brings salvation (Titus ii. 11). The Long- 
suflering of th-e Lord is salvation (II. Peter 
iii. 15). "He that endureth unto the end the 
same shall be saved" (Matt. x. 22). "Be thou 
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life" (Rev. ii. 10). 

These are some of the texts whi<3h mav be 
quoted from the INew Testament in which sal- 
vation is ascribed to a number of persons, 
acts, and things. How can these statements 
be placed in harmonious lelations? In this 
w^ay: "We are saved by gi-ace as the moving 
cause; by Jesus as the efficient cause; by his 
djeath, resurrection, and life, as the procuring 
cause; by faith as the formal cause; by baptism- 



72 The Way of Salvation. 

as the immediate cause; and by enduring 
to the end, or persevering in the Lord, as the 
concurring cause" f^'The Christian System," 
page 249). 

An illustration may be quoted \vhich will 
present this subject in a still clearer light. 
"A gentleman on the sea-shore descries the 
wreck of a vessel at some distance from land, 
driving out into the ocean, t,nd covered with 
a miserable and perishing sea-drenched crew. 
Moved by pure philanthropy, he sends his 
son in a boat to save them. When the boat 
arrives at the wreck, he invites them in, upon 
this condition: that they submit to his guid- 
ance. A number of the crew stretch out their 
arms, and, seizing the boat with their hands, 
spring into it, take hold of the oars, and row 
to land, while some, from cowardice, and oth- 
ers because of some difficultv in coming to 
the boat, wait the expectation of a second 
trip; but before it I'eturned, the wreck went 
to pie.ces, and they all perished. The moving 
cause of the salvation of those who escaped 
was the good-will of the gentleman on the 
shore; the son, who took the boat, was the 



Baptism and Salvation. 73 

efficient cause; the boat itself, the procuring 
cause; the knowledge of their perishing con- 
dition, and his invitation, the disposing cause; 
the seizing of ihe boat with their hands, and 
springing into it, the immediate cause; their 
consenting to his condition, the formal cause; 
and their rowing to shore, under the guid-* 
ance of his son, was the concurring cause of 
their salvation. Thus men -are justified or 
saved by grace, by Christ, by his blood, by 
faith, by knowledge, by the name of the Lord, 
and by works." (See "The Christian System," 
page 248). 

In some quarters there has been an incli- 
nation to make too much of baptism. Many 
reasons may be given for this, but one must 
suffice for the present. To simply quote a few^ 
texts will show how verv easv it is to undulv 
exalt this ordinance. Read onlv the followins:: 

K O 

"He that believeth and is baptized, shall be 
saved" (Mark xvi. 16). "The Pharisees and law- 
yers rejected the counsel of God against them- 
selves not being baptized of John" (Luke vii. 
30). "Repent and be baptized every one of 
vou in the name of Jesus Christ for the 



74 The Way of Salvation, 

remission of sins" (Acts ii. 38). "Arise and be 
baptized, and wash a\vay thy sins calling on 
the name of the Lord" (Acts xxii. 16). "Ex- 
cept a man be born of ^^ater and of the Spirit, 
he can not enter into the kingdom of God" 
(John iii. 5). "Baptism doth also now save 
us" (I. Peter iii. 21). 

These quotations indicate how easy it is to 
overestimate the importance of baptism. These 
are also the texts which are supposed to teach 
the doctrine of baptismal regeneration— a doc- 
trine most abhorrent to the spirit and general 
current of Bible teaching. In every instance 
in which baj)tism is represented as having a 
connection with salvation, it is represented 
also as being preceded by faith and repent- 
ance. Baptism without faith in Jesus, bap- 
tism without repentance toward God, baptism 
without a new heart, is of no avail whatever. 
Except as an expression of faith and penitence 
and a new heart, baptism is a meaningless 
ceremony — a mere form. \Vhile the texts 
quoted give a certain value to baptism, which 
ought to be brought out in the preaching of 
the Gospel, it still remains true, as Alexander 



Baptism and Salvation, 75 

Campbell said in his debate with Mr. Rice 
(page 545), that "the fundamental, the capital 
point," is the turning of the heart to God. 
Mr. Campbell also said in this connection that 
"if a person were to be immersed twice seven 
times in the Jordan for the remission of his 
sins, or for the reception of the Holy Spirit, it 
would avail nothing more than the wetting 
of the face of a babe unless his heart is 
changed by the Word and Spirit of God." 

Baptism alone dees not save any person- in 
any sense. The simple act of immersing one 
is not Christian baptism. Give attention, 
please, at this point, to a few negative propo- 
sitions to the end that the text mav be made 
apparent to every one. 

First, Baptism without faith does not save. 
Why? Because the Master says (Matt. xvi. 16), 
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved." Because Paul says (Rom. xiv. 23) that 
"whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Because 
the writer of the Epistle of the Hebrews 
(Heb. xi. 6) says that "without faith it is im- 
possible to please God." 

Second, Baptism without repentance does n©t 



76 The Way of Salvation, 

save. Why? Because the Master said (Luke 
xxiv. 47) that "repentance and remission of 
sins" were to be preached in his name among 
all nations. Because Simon Peter said, imme- 
diately after he had received the baptism of 
the Holy Spirit, and when speaking as ihe 
Spirit gave him utterance (Acts ii. 38) that 
men should "repent" as well as "be baptized 
for the remission of sins." Because th« Son 
of man himself said (Luke xiii. 3-5), "Except 
ye repent ye shall perish." 

Third, Baptism does not save without a con- 
fession of Christ. Why? Because Jesus says 
(Matt. X. 32, 33), "Whosoever shall confess me 
before men, him will I confess also before my 
Father which is in heaven; but whosoever 
shall denv me before men, him will I also denv 
before my Father which is in heaven." Be- 
cause John says (L John iv. 3), "Every spirit 
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come 
in the flesh is not of God." Because Paul 
says (Rom. x. 10), "With the mouth confession 
is made unto salvation." 

Fourth, Baptism does not save without 
prayer. Why? Because Ananias, specially 



Baptism and Salvation, 77 

called of God and sent to Saul of Tai'sus, 
told him (iVcts xxii. 16) to arise and be bap- 
tized, and wash away his sins calling on the 
name of the Lord. Because Joel, Peter, and 
Paul (Joel ii. 32; Acts ii. 21,- Rom. x. 1.3), 
sav that "Whosoever shall call on the nam^e of 
the Lord shall be saved." In whatevei' sense, 
then, baptism saves, it is absolutely certain 
that it does not save without faith, that it 
does not save without repentance, that it does 
not save without confession, that it does, not 
save without prayer. 

Fifth, It has alre.adv been said in efl'ect 
that baptism does not save without a clean 
heart, but let this thought stand out as the 
fifth proposition in this series. In whatever 
sense baptism saves, it does not save without 
a clean heart. This must be true since (Matt. 
XV. 19) "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, 
mui'ders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false 
witness, blasphemies." This must be true, be- 
cause the writer of the twenty -fourth Psalm 
says that a condition of ascending into the 
hill of the Lord, and of standing in his holy 
place (verse 4), is "a pure heart." This must 



78 The Way of Salvation, 

be true, because Jesus says (Matt. v. 8) that 
**The pure in heart" are blessed in ih^it "they 
shall see God," and the author of the Epistle 
to the Hebrews says (Ileb. xii. 14), "Without 
holiness no man shall see the Lord." 

Add two more propositions, separate and 
distinct, to those already considered. 

First, Thei'e is no virtue in water to cleanse 
from sin. There is no more virtue in the 
waters of baptism to cleanse the soul from 
sin than there was virtue in the water of tiie 
river Jordan to cleanse the body of Naam<in 
fi'om leprosy. You remember that when the 
prophet of C^xl, Klisha, said to tlie "captain of 
the host^ of the king; of Syria" (II. Kings v. 
1, 10, }1), "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, 
and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and 
thou shalt be clean," Naaman was wroth and 
said (verse 12): "Are not Abana and Pharpar, 
rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters 
of Israel?" It i.s probable that the captain 
was right. It is likely that the pure, clean, 
cool w^aters of Abana and Pharpar were better, 
as water, than the waters of Jordan, but he 
was in error in thinking ^hat there was any 



Baptism and Salvation. 79 

water sufTieient to efTeet a cure of leprosy. 
Naaman, however, was no more in error on this 
point than is the man who thinks that there 
is virtue in the waters of baptism to cleanse 
ihe soul from ihe defilement of sin. God, in 
his grace and mercy, suspended the physical 
cure of the captain of the host of the king of 
Syria on faith in and obedience to him. The 
specific command was to "wash seven times." 
The Divine promise was "thy flesh shall come 
again to thee, and thou shalt be clean." What 
was the immediate result? The immediate I'e- 
sult was that when "Naaman dipped himself 
seven times in Jordan (11. Kings v. 14) ac- 
cording to the saying of the man of God, his 
flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little 
child and he was clean." This result was 
when he "dipped himself seven times in Jor- 
dan, according to the saying of the man of God," 
not when he dipped himself once, or twioe, 
or three times, or four times, or five times, 
or even six times, but when he "dipped him- 
self seven times in Jordan according to the 
saying of the man of God." 

Exact and full obedience is what God 



80 The Way of Salvation, 

requires. The cure of Naaman was by faith. 
This belief was the result of words spoken, 
in ihe first place, by the little maid. This 
faith was the result of words of entreaty spo- 
ken by the body servant of the afflicted man. 
By the testimony of the servant girl, Elisha, 
the prophet, and the faithful body servant of 
Naaman, the "great" man believed so far as 
to venture to do the thing required. His 
faith thus generated led to obedience, and his 
obedience to salvation. 

The cure was also by grace. The grace of 
God toward this "great man,"' "honorable and 
mighty," as he is called (II. Kings v. 1), was 
exhibited in the first place in the words 
spoken by Elisha, and in the second place by 
the cure which followed obedience to the 
word of God by the prophet. Naaman was 
saved from his physical condition by the 
mercy of God. When? When he dipped him- 
self seven times in Jordan, according to the 
saving; of the man of God. Naaman realized this 
fact and was very grateful. So filled with grati- 
tude was he that he offered to pay the prophet, 
but Elisha declined to receive Naaman's gifts. 



Baptism and Salvaiion. 81 

When the captain left his home to call on the 
prophet that he might, as the little Jewish 
servant girl had said to her mistress, "be re- 
covered (I. Kings V. 3) of his leprosy," he 
took with him "ten talents, of silver, and six 
thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of 
raiment." He expected to pay a good round 
sum for his cure. He had no thought of being 
saved bv the abundant mercv and free grace 
of God. There was no virtue in the water. 
The healing virtue w^as in God, and in him 
alone. He alone could save Naaman— he alone 
did save him. But there was quite as much 
virtue in the water in this case as there is 
virtue in water when "Simon Peter, a servant 
and an apostle of Jesus Christ," affirms that 
"baptism doth now save us" — that is, none 
at all. 

Take another illustration Jesus said to the 
man w^ho was blind from his birth (John Ix. 
7), "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (verse 7). 
He went his way, therefore, and washed, and 
came seeing." Before the command to "go, 
wash in the pool of Siloam," Jesus spat on 
the ground, made clay of the spittle, and 



82 The Way of Salvation, 

anointed the eyes of the blind man with the 
clay." After Jesus had done his part, he told 
the afflicted man to do his part, and the poor 
man obeyed. Result? He came seeing;." Was 
there vii'tue in the clay? No. In the spittle? 
Not a bit. In the water? None at all. The 
power to open the eyes of the blind man was 
in the Heoler. 

So also there is n-o virtue in the water, nor 
virtue in the act of baptism to make one whole. 
from the disease and defilement of sin, but the 
j)ower to make clean — and the only power — is 
of God. He saves, but he proposes to save men 
from sin on certain plainly specified conditions. 
Let these remarks suffice on this point. 

Baptism is an act which marks a transition. 
The word is followed l)y a preposition which 
signifies motion from a given point toward a 
given point. In the great commission, for in- 
stance, as given by Matthew (Matt, xxviii. 19), 
baptism is into, not merely in, but into, the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit. On this point, happily, at the 
present time, there is practically no difference 
of opinion. 



Baptism and Salvation, 83 

? The preposition eis, in this passage, is trans- 
lated "into" by the Amei'iean Bible Union, and 
by the Canterbury critics, in the revised New 
Testan>ent. Dr. John A. Broadus, president 
of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
savs, in his excellent "Commentarv on Mat- 
thew," that this "is the most obvious and com- 
monest translation of the Greek phrase eis to 
onoma," He also calls attention to the fact 
that "the same preposition and ease are found 
after baptize in Acts viii. 16; xix. 5; I. Cor. 
i. 13, and (with other nouns) in Gal. iii. 27,- 
Rom. vi. 3 (twice) and I. Cor. x. 2." 

Dr. Bi'oadus also says that "to have this 
ceremony performed upon oui'selves in the 
name of Jesus Christ, or in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
is a sort of oath of allegiance or pledge of de- 
votion to him as our Saviour and our guide; 
we are not baptized unto Moses, or unto Paul, 
but unto Christ, unto the Trinity. Henoe it 
w^as a pleasant fancy of the eai-ly Latin Chris- 
tians to call baptism a sacramentum, the Roman 
soldiers' oath of absolute devotion and obedience 
to his general; though the word sacrament 



84 The Way of Salvation, 

after Wcards came to be gradually employed in 
applications and senses quite foreign to the 
New Testament." 

Now, the New Testament authorizes, the be- 
lief that when one in baptism takes this oath 
of allegiance to him who has all power in 
heaven and on earth; that when the penitent, 
in baptism signs, as it were, a pledge of de- 
votion to the Christ, he obtains an evidence 
of acceptance with God which he had not before, 
and which can not be obtained in any other 
way. lie can point to the words of his Master 
(Mark xvi. 16), "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved," and say, with a humble 
boldness, "This promise now applies to me." 

The believing penitent is baptized into the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit. By being baptized, he comes 
into a new i-elation to this Trinity. Before 
men he recognizes formally and solemnly God 
as his father, the Son of God as his mediator 
and Saviour, and the Holy Spii-it as his guide, 
comforter, and sanctifier. The preposition, eis, 
in this place, marks this transition, this change 
of I'elation. 



Baptism and Salvation. 85 

We are said (Rom. vi. 3) to be "baptized 
into the death of Christ." The first great 
fact of the Gospel (I. Cor. xv. 3) is the fact 
that Jesus died for our sins, according to the 
Old Testament Scriptures. We are said to be 
"redeemed" (I. Peter i. 19) ''with the precious 
blood of Christ;" and John, the Beloved, says 
(I. John i. 7) that "the blood of Jesus Christ 
cleanseth from all sin." 

This, however, on condition that we "walk 
in the light." The blood of Jesus Christ makes 
clean onlv those who believe in him. At what 
point in their experience? When the faiih 
is so thorough as to result in an open, un- 
conditional, absolute sui-render to Christ. 
"Here, Lord, I give myself to thee." Bap- 
tism is the ordinance Divinely appointed to 
mark this surrender. Hence, the person who 
sincerely and intelligently gives himself to 
Christ in this solemn service may be said to 
be saved by baptism. 

The idea of transition seems to have been 
in the mind of the apostle when he said (I. 
Peter iii. 21) that "baptism does also now save 
us," since he alludes (verse 20) to the fact 



86 The Way of Salvation. 

that "eight souls were saved by water," in 
"the days of Noah." They could only be saved 
by water in the sense that, by this element, 
thev were carried over from the old world of 
sin and death to the new world of righteous- 
ness and life. So one in baptism comes out 
from the world of disobedience and death, and 
openly identifies himself with the new world 
of obedience and life. 

But I am not certain that in anvthino: vet 

t. o «. 

said, the precise meaning of the man of God 
in our text has been presented. Thus far we 
have dealt with the subject in a general way; 
let us attempt to disco\er the exact meaning 
of the text. 

To whom does Peter say baptism does also 
now save us? lie speaks (I. Peter i. 1) to the 
elect accoi'ding to the foreknowledge of (^Jod 
the Father; to a chosen (I. Peter li. 9) genera- 
tion, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a pe- 
culiar people. He addresses those who (I. Peter 
ii. 10) in time past were not a people, but are 
now the people of God; who had not obtained 
mercv, but now have obtained mercv. Simon 
Peter says to good men and women, to those 



Baptism and Salvation, 87 

who had purified their souls, (I. Peter i. 22) 
in obedience to the truth, that baptism doth 
also now save us. He seems to even identifv 
himself in this matter of salvation with those 
to whom he writes. 

In what condition, let us next consider, 
were those to whom the words of the text 
are addressed? 

Answer: Their faith was being sorely tried 
(I. Peter i. 7). Enemies were before them, 
behind them, on the right and on the left of 
them— enemies were all about them. lie speaks 
of their temptations (I. Peter i. 6) as manifold. 
He assures them that when they patiently 
suffer for doing well (I. Peter li. 21) God is 
well pleased. Christ, in these bitter experi- 
ences, is to be taken as an example. Think 
it not strange, he says, (I. Peter iv. 12) that 
you are required to pass through this fiery 
trial, but rather rejoice that ye are partakers 
of Christ's sufferings. But let none of you, 
suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an 
evil-doer, or as a busv-bodv in other men's 
matters (I. Peter iv. 15). 

From the beginning to the end of this epistle 



88 The Way of Salvation, 

the evidence is indisputable that the writer 
had in his mind and addressed Christian men 
under trial because of their Christian faith. 

What purpose had he in view? The en- 
couragement of well-doing of his sorely tried 
brethren. He declares in his second epistle 
(II. Peter iii. 1, 2) that he writes both epistles 
to stir up their pure minds to a remembrance 
of the words spoken by the holy prophets, 
and of the commandments of the apostles of 
the Lord and iSaviour. This was simply doing 
what his Master years before commanded. The 
Christ, in view of Peter's fall and recovery, 
told him (Luke xxii. 32) that when he was 
turned again, he should turn his brethren. 
This he does in the two epistles which bear 
his name. 

It is easy wiih the place, nature, and func- 
tions of baptism, as represented in ihe New 
Testament, to see how, in their trials, re- 
membrance of their experiences at the time 
of their baptism, their deep contrition, their 
openly avowed trust in the Son of God, their 
sincere purpose and solemn covenant to be 
Christ's and to do his will, with an assurance 



Baptism and Salvation. 89 

from him of his gracious acceptance of them, 
with his promise of Divine assistance in all 
the way of life — it is easy, I say, to see how 
a recollection of these things would encourage 
them in the midst of their trials, and nei've 
them to endure to the end however great and 
constant their sufferings, and in this way they 
would be saved now by their baptism. 

There is no time remaining in which to 
argue this point, nor does it seem to be neces- 
sary. 

t. 

You are only exhorted in the concluding mo- 
ments of this sermon, in time of despondency, 
of disquiet, of discouragement, of temptation 
and triaJ, to recall your experiences, your sol- 
emn vows, sincerely made, and the rest which 
came with the utter and absolute surrender to 
Christ in baptism, testifying in a way that 
you could not misunderstand your peace with 
God and gracious adoption into his family— you 
are exhorted to this recollection that vou may 
learn by experience that baptism doth also 
now saye us. 



THE NECESSARY FRUIT OF CHRISTIANITY. 

"By their fruits ye shall know thejii." — Matt, 
vii. 20. 

It is a singular revelation of the extraordi- 
nary depravity of human nature that at a time 
when Christianity is exhibiting a charity al- 
most without limit, a charity, too, in perfect 
accord with the teaching of Christ, there 
should be found men of such depravity as to 
assault the religion of Jesus at the very point 
at which one would suppose it most commends 
itself. At a time when Christians are pouring 
out money without stint to relieve, without 
regard to religious connections, or professions, 
the poor in our cities; where, under the influ- 
ence of Chi'istian principles, have been estab- 
lished moi'e benevolent institutions, hospitals, 
and orphan asylums, open to atheists, infidels, 
and all classes without distinction of sect, than 
in any other pai't of the world— at such a time 
certain haters and traducers of Christianity 

90 



The Necessary Fruit of Christianity, 91 

send forth a circular, on one side of w hich 
is the picture of the Word of God, open and 
with this inscription: 

-'Holy Bible, book divine, 
In which true faith and doctrine shine, 
Precious treasure, thou art mine! 
If you have no Bible be sure to get one." 

Then follows: "Find the verses on the back of 
this card, and you will learn the kind of pre- 
cious morality, temperance and kindness, 'the 
holy men of God spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost.' The results of which are that 
the unfortunate, aged and helpless are neg- 
lected, while vast sums of money are wasted 
on fulsomely flattering the three mystical 
monsters of this Book, in hopes of avoiding 
their imaginary curses and gaining their 
doubtful favors." 

On the other side are verses wrested from 
their context, from the sixty-six books of the 
Bible, covering a period of nearly two thousand 
years, including histories of many wars and de- 
scriptions of difi'erent degrees of civilization, 
selected exclusively for the purpose of misrep- 
resenting the general spirit of the Book. 



92 The Way of Salvation. 

Accompanying this is a circular addressed 
"To the Clergy and their supporters." It is 
professedly issued by the Board of Directors of 
the American Secular Union. The grade of in- 
tellect may be inferred from the following con- 
elusive proof, in their opinion, that there is no 
God: "Look at the vast numbers that con- 
tribute to build up and expensively decorate, 
furnish, and support places that their Divine 
Owner cares so little about that they will 
burn down if the tax-payers' fire department 
does not put them out." 

Benighted and malignant wretches! in the 
midst of a civilization which, though con- 
fessedly imperfect, is a marvelous advance upon 
any attained on a large scale in the history 
of the world, they stand making faces and 
muttering oaths. 

If any additional evidence were needed to 
show the deep, dark, damning depravity of the 
human heart, these facts ought to be quite 
sufficient. 

My purpose in this discourse is to show the 
'necessary fruit of the teaching of Christi- 
anity. In ft subsequent sermon the fruit of 



The Necessary Fruit of Christianity, 9.3 

Christianity will be shown by an array of 
facts, but in this our attention will be turned 
to the teaching of Christianity, and our inquiry 
will relate to the necessary result among men 
of this doctrine. 

The Master in the Sermon on the. Mount 
has formulated a rule by which a reasonable, 
just and accurate conclusion may be reached 
as to the Divine origin and nature and infin- 
itely glorious purposes of our holy religion. 
In two places in the Sermon on the Mount, 
Jesus declares that by their fruits false proph- 
ets are to be known. In appearance these 
prophets are as harmless as sheep, but within 
they are ravening wolves. Men do not gather 
grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles. A good 
tree produces, as all men know, good fruit, 
while a corrupt tree, as is universally recog- 
nized, produces evil fruit. It is impossible 
that a good tree should produce evil fruit, 
and equally impossible that a corrupt tree 
should bring forth good fruit. By their fruits 
trees are known. By their fruits prophets are 
known to be either good or bad. So by their 
fruits the teachings of the religions of the 



94 The Way of Salvation, 

earth may be known to be either divine or 
human in tjieir originaand purpose. Let the 
Christian religion be tried by this standard. 
No believer need tremble in apprehension of 
a possibly disastrous result. 

What is the teaching of Christianity accord- 
ing to Christ concerning the results of sin? 
Does the teaching of Jesus and his apostles 
on this point encourage men to live in the 
habitual transgression of law? A summary 
statement may be found in the Epistle to the 
Romans (Rom. vi. 23), "The wages of sin is 
death," and this declaration is in perfect 
accord with the entire teaching of the Old 
Testament and the New, with the entire doc- 
trine of Moses and the prophets, of Jesus and 
the apostles. Concerning the result of sin, 
there is not a dissentient voice, neither in the 
Law, the Prophets, the Psalms nor the Apoca- 
lypse. Always and everywhere, from the first 
word of Genesis to the last word of Revela- 
tion, the declaration made with a divine 
emphasis in some form is that the wages of 
sin is death; that the soul that sinneih shall die. 
Need I inquire whether there is in this fact an 



Th e Necessa ry F ru it of Ch vis t ia n i ly. 9 5 

encouragement to men to sin against themselves, 
against their fellow-beings, or against the God 
who made them? What must be the result, 
the necessary result, of this teaching? 

What, I inquire again, is a necessary result 
of the teaching of Christianity according to 
Christ, concerning of lives of righteousness? 

We read in the Book in which alone is an 
authoritative statement of the facts, truths, 
principles, precepts, commands, promises, warn- 
ings of our holy religion that (I. Tim. iv. 8) 
godliness is profitable unto all things, having 
promise of the life that now is, and of the 
life that is to come. 

.. Here again is a voice sounding as revela- 
tion progresses from its Alpha to its Omega, 
with an ever deepening tone. There is no 
question that the teaching of the Bible is 
that here and now in this world, as well as 
there and then in the world to come, right- 
eousness of heart, of speech, of conduct, 
pays. The Old Testament is full of the 
thought that righteousness is rewarded in 
this life. The New Testament teaches the 
same doctrine. Here and now^ among men it 



96 The Way of Salvation. 

pays to live uprightly, to live as in the sij2,ht 
of God. 

As to the hereafter, Christianity declares 
(I. Cor. ii. 9) that eye hath not seen, nor has 
ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart 
to conceive the things that Cod hath pre- 
pared for them that love him. We are as- 
sured by John, the Beloved, (I. John iii. 2) that 
it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but 
we know that when He shall appear we shall 
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus 
Christ, also declares (I. Peter i. 3, 4) that the 
elect according to the foreknowledge of Cod 
the Father are heirs to an inheritance incor- 
ruptible and undefiled and unfading. In the 
second Epistle to the Corinthians (II. Cor. iv. 17) 
the apostle seems to fairly stagger in an effort 
to set before the minds of his brethren the 
outcome of the afflictions through which in 
this woi'ld they were passing. He says that 
these afflictions are but light, and that they 
endure only for a moment, and that they work 
for us a far moi'e exceeding and eternal bur- 
then of glory. While we look not to the things 



The Necessary Fruit of Christianity 97 

which are seen, but to the things which are 
not seen. Note the effort of the apostle to 
describe the glory which aw^aits the children 
of God who endure to the end. There is a 
weight of glory, he says; this weight of glory 
he describes as an exceeding and eternal burth- 
en; and this he describes still further as a 
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 
and beyond this he goes, and affirms that it 
is a far more exceeding and eternal burthen 
of glory. 

These citations are but samples picked up 
at random, setting forth the teaching of Chris- 
tianity concerning the rewards of righteous- 
ness here and hereafter. Is it necessary to 
argue that the tendency of this teaching is 
to cause men to seek after righteousness in 
heart and in life? 

Let us consider, in the next place, the teach- 
ing of Christianity concerning our social re- 
lations, and inquire what is the necessary 
fruit of Christianity as to the social order. ; 

There are those who prate about the sub- 
jection of woman; the enslavement of woman 
as a result of Bible teachins;. 



98 The Way of Salraiion, 

Do ihey not know that in the Bible is con- 
tained the first law which, in the history of 
mankind, placed woman on an equality with 
man? The Bible in its account of the crea- 
tion of woman does this. Matthew Henry 
quaintly says in his comment on Genesis ii. 
21, 22, that "the woman was made of a rib out 
of the side of Adam; not made out of his head 
to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled 
upon by him, but out of his side to be equal 
with him, under his arm to be protected, and 
near his heart to be beloved." 

In a decalogue the father and mother stand 
in the home upon a plane of equality, for that 
law declares (Ex. xx. 12) that children ought 
to "Honor their father and their mother; that 
their days may be long upon the land which 
the Lord their God giveth them." If .some 
one should sav, "But that is not Christianity 
that is Judaism," I reply Paul quotes (Eph. ii. 
3) this commandment indorsing it, calling at- 
tention also to the fact that it "is the first 
commandment with promise; that it may be 
well with thee, and thou mayst live long on 
the earth." The command is not simply to 



The Aecessa ry Fruit of Ghr is t ia n i ty, 99 

honor the father, but to honor the mother as 
well. The law requires equal honor to be 
given in the home to mother and father, to 
father and mother. Does any one doubt that 
a family organized according to the teaching 
of the Bible will be of necessity a happy 
home? Love in such a home will be regnant. 

Continuing this thought let us inquire into 
the teaching of Christianity as to the duties 
of husbands toward wives; the duties of wives 
toward husbands; the duties of parents toward 
children, and of children toward parents; of 
masters toward servants, and of servants to- 
ward masters. 

The Apostle Paul requires husbands (Eph. 
V. 25-28) to love their wives even as Christ 
loved the church, and gave himself for it. 
He enjoins upon men to love their wives as 
they love their own bodies. Paul reminds 
husbands that a man who "loveth his wife 
loveth himself." 

Turning to wives (Eph. v. 22) he exhorts 
them to "submit yourselves unto your own 
husbands, and unto the Lord." If you are 
inclined to think that this exhortation to 



IQO The Way of Salvation, 

submission is a hard saying, and to inquire who 
can bear it, you are reminded of the charac- 
ters which husbands in the same conaection 
are required to possess, and the bearing which 
is to characterize these husbands in their re- 
lations to their wives. It will be an easy 
and a most natural thing for wives to submit 
themselves to such husbands as Paul describes. 
Men who love their wives as Christ loved 
the church; men who love their wives as 
their own bodies; men who understand that 
love toward the wife is but another wav of 
loving one's self. 

It is a curious and an interesting fact that 
wives are nowhere exhorted to love their 
husbands, but husbands are exhorted to love 
their wives. I wonder why? 

Fathei's are exhorted in this same epistle 
(Eph. vi. 4) "Provoke not your children to 
wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord." 

Children in this connection (Eph. vi. 1, 2, 3) 
are exhorted, "Obey your paren ts in the Lord ; for 
this is right. Honor thy father and mothei*; 
which is the first commandment with promise; 



The Necessary Fruit of Christianity, 101 

that it mav be well with thee, and that thou 
mayst live long on the earth." 

Does anv one doubt that in a home where 
parents live together in love; where fathers 
provoke not their children to anger, but strive 
to bring them up in the nurture and admonition 
of the Lord; a home where children are obe- 
dient to parents— does any one doubt that such 
a household will be a sort of paradise on earth? 
But these are the solemn and oft-repeated 
requirements of Moses and the prophets, of 
Jesus and the apostles— the oft-repeated re- 
quirements of Christianity according to Christ. 

Attention has been called to the fact that 
although slavery existed in the Roman Em- 
pire at the time of the introduction of Chris- 
tianity, not a word was uttered by Jesus, or 
by any of his elect representatives, against 
this enormous iniquity, this sumof all willain- 
ies. The effort has been made to bring Chris- 
tianity into disrepute because of this fact. 
The attempt has been made to say that Chris- 
tianitv encoura2:es human slaverv. 

On this please note the following: When the 
Old Testament law^s relating to slavery were 



102 The Way of Salvation, 

promulgated they indicated a step in advance 
ill the direction of a needed humanizing. Pre- 
viouslv, and for centuries afterward bv other 
nations than the one elected of God, it was 
customary to put to death mercilessly those 
who were captured in war. Mosaism stepped 
in and stayed effusion of blood, and said in 
etfect to the Hebrew people: ''Instead of 
slaughtering those who are made prisoners by 
vou in the wars which vou mav waii:e with 
neighboring nations, they are to be spared, 
to be treated as servants, as slaves, but to be 
treated humanely, to be treated as brothers." 
The enslavement of Hebrews was but tem- 
porary, unless the en>la\ed should elect de- 
liberately to be a servant for life, which choice 
was to be signified publicly and with a})pr()- 
priate ceremonies. 

Turning to the New Testament the most 
conspicuous representative of Christ in the 
history of his religion placed masters under cer- 
tain injunctions which, if carried out, would 
result, did result, has resulted in the abolition 
of slavery wherever Christianity has gone. I 
have in my mind the following admonition: 



Tk e Necessa ry Fruit of Ck ris t ia n i ty, 103 

(Col. iv. 1) "Masters give unto your servants 
that which is just and equal; knowing that 
ye also have a Master in heaven." Is it pos- 
sible for men to buy and sell; for men to 
reduce others to slavery and hold them in 
abject servitude under such a law as this? ; 

On the other hand, the apostle enjoins on 
servants (Eph. vi. 5) obedience to masters 
"with fear and trembling, in singl-eness of heart 
as unto Christ; not with eye service as men 
pleasers; but as servants of Christ, doing the 
will of God from the heart; with good will 
doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 
knowing that whatsoever good thing any man 
doeth, the same shall he I'eceive of the Lord, 
whether he be bond or free." Turning at once 
from servants, the man of God addresses mas- 
ters in the following language (Eph. A^i. 9), 
"And, ye masters, do the same things unto 
them, forbearing threatening; knowing that 
your Master also is in heaven; neither is there 
respect of persons with him." 

You will observe that in this study as to 
the necessary fruit of Christianity I am calling 
attention to doctrine and to dutv universallv 



104 The Way of Salvation, 

recognized as essential pai'ts of Christianity 
according to Christ. Concerning these mat- 
ters there can be no diflerence of opinion 
among those who have a regard for facts, and 
it does seem to me that every reasonable per- 
son must, without hesitancy, agree that the 
fruit of such teaching will be good, only good, 
and that continually. 

If vou sav that women have not always been 
treated with due consideration by professed 
Christians; that husbands have not always 
borne themselves toward their wives accord- 
ing to the apostolic injunction; that wives have 
not always borne themselves toward their 
husbands as the apostle enjoined; that fathers 
have not been as considerate of their children 
as the New Testament requires; that children 
have not always and everywhere in profess- 
edly Christian homes been obedient to their 
parents as unto the Lord; that masters in 
Christian lands have not always rendered to 
their servants the things that are just and 
equal, while servants, professing the name of 
Christ, have not always served as in the sight 
of God; I reply that this simply means that 



The Necessary Fruit of Ch ristianity, 105 

Christianity according to Christ has not been 
made the rule of life. The faith in Christianity 
in such cases has not been a practical but a 
theoretical faith. Wherever the teaching of 
Christianity is received and made the rule 

t, 

of life, and this is the only satisfactory recep- 
tion of Christianity, the fruit must be glorious 
beyond compare. 

When men become citizens of the kingdom 
ofGod, thev do not thereby cease to be citizens 
of the kingdoms and republics of earth. You are 
citizens at one and the same time of the 
Republic of the United States, and of the 
kingdom of heaven established on earth. Chris- 
tianity has a word to say to those who receive 
it as from God, concerning their duties as 
citizens of earthly governments. In the first 
place, they are required (I. Tim. ii. 1-3) to 
make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and 
to give thanks for all men; "for kings, and for 
all that are in authority; that we may lead a 
quiet, peaceable life in all godliness and hon- 
esty. For this is good and acceptable in the 
sight of God our Saviour." But before these 
prayers, supplications, and intercessions can 



106 The Way of Salvation, 

be made for those in authority, there must be 
a spirit of loyalty on the part of the citizens 
toward those who are appointed to rule. In 
Paul's charge to Titus he tells him (Titus iii. 
1, 2) to put the people in mind "to be sub- 
ject to principalities and powers, to obey 
magistrates, to be ready to every good work, 
to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, 
but gentle, showing all meekness unto all 
men." 

The Apostle Peter likewise exhorts those 
whom he characterizes as (I. Peter ii. 9) "a 
chosen genei*ation, a I'oyal priesthood, a holy 
nation, a peculiar people, to (I. Peter ii. 17) 
honor the king." And this honor, which is 
to be rendered to the king, follows imme- 
diately an admonition to fear God, and this 
in turn follows an exhortation to love the 
brethren. 

In the Epistle to the Romans the Apostle 
Paul teaches (Rom. xiii. 1-7) that every soul 
among the saints is under a solemn obligation 
to "be subject unto the higher powers. For 
there is no power but of God, and the pow- 
ers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, 



The Necessary Fruit of Christianity. 107 

therefore, resistelh the power, resisteth the 
ordinances of God: and thev that resist shall 
receive to themselves damnation; for rulers 
are not a terror to good works, but to evil. 
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? 
Do that which is good, and thou shall have 
praise of the same; for he is the minister of 
God to thee for good. But if ihou do that 
.which is evil, be afraid; for be beareth not 
the sword in vain; for he is the minister of 
God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him 
that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be 
subject, not only for wrath, but also for con- 
science sake. For, for this cause pay ye tribute 
also; for they are God's ministers, attending 
continually upon this very thing. Render, 
therefore, to all their dues; tribute to whom 
tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear 
to whom fear; honour to whom honour." 

And you remember perfectly well the effort 
that w^as made bv the adversaries of Jesus to 
arraign him against the civil authorities. You 
remember the efforts that were made to (Matt, 
xxii. 15) "entangle him in hi.? talk." The dis- 
ciples of the Pharisees with the Herodians 



108 The Way of Salvation. 

asked (verse 17);" "Is it lawful to give tribute 
unto Caesar or not?" The reply of the Master 
was so adroit that the historian tells us his 
accusers (Maj,t. xxii. 22) "marveled and left 
him, and went their way." His reply to iheir 
impudent and wicked question concerning the 
payment of tribute to Caesar was (Matt. xxii. 
21), "Render, therefore, unto Caesar the <ilr.ihgs> 
which are Caesar's, and unto God the things 
that are God's." 

The charge that was brought against Uire 
Master when he was arraigned before Pontius 
Pilate was that he claimed to be a king; that 
therefore he was guilty of treason against 
Caesar and his government. To this the Christ 
replied (John xviii 36), "My kingdom is not 
of this world: if my kingdom were of this 
world, then would my servants fight, that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews: but now^ 
is mv kingdom not from hence." As to the 
character of the reign which he had come to 
the earth to establish, Jesus said to Pilate 
(John xviii. 37), "To this end was I born, and 
for this cause came I into the world, that I 
should bear witness unto the truth." This 



The Necessa ry Fruit of Ch ris t ia n i ty. 109 

was but another way of saying to the repre- 
sentatives of the Roman government, in whose 
presence he stood: "My dominion is a dominion 
of truth." 

But why pursue this subject further? No 
one for a moment thinks at the present time 
in this land that a fruit of Christianity is 
bad citizenship. The facts stated, the Scrip- 
tures recited, show beyond a doubt that Chris- 
tianity according to Christ will produce the 
highest and best type of citizenship. 



THE UNIQUE CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE. 

"Every scripture inspired of God is also prof- 
itable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction, which is in righteousness: that 
the man of God may be complete, furnished com- 
pletely unto ever}- good work." — II. Timothy iii. 
16, 17. 

The fact affirmed in this text I believe 
with all my heart. I will not occupy any por- 
tion of your time with an effort to prove that 
when Paul wrote thie ^proposition he affirmed 
a great truth. I desire rather to call your 
attention to the unique character of the Bible. 
What differentiates this literature, this Book, 
from all other literature, and from all other 
books, is the one fact that it is God-inspired. 
You are invited to accompany me while I 
place before you the confessions and testi- 
monies of unprejudiced witnesses as to the 
unique character of the Holy Bible. 

Mr. Charles A. Dana, the brilliant editor of 

110 



The Unique Character of the Bible, 111 

the New York Sun, affirmed last autumn in a 
public address that for the journalist there is 
no book like the Bible. At that moment he 
was addressing candidates for the journalistic 
profession, and spoke of the Holy Scriptures 
not as strictly religious literature|but as con- 
stituting a manual of utility. In a contro- 
versy the Bible contains the right answer. 
It always sets up the right principle. It 
always pleads for the right policy. 

Mr. William T. Stead, editor of Review of 
Reviews, declares that he considers himself 
successful just as far as he is able to incor- 
porate the Bible in his journal. The news- 
paper, he says, is a very poor substitute for 
the Bible even in our attempt to solve the 
problems of the day. 

When Mr. Dana testified to the unique char- 
acter of the Bible and its peerless value to 
journalists, he was delivering an exhortation 
to young men concerning authors to be read. 
He named in this connection, Channing, Haw- 
thorne, Milton, Matthew Arnold, Thomas 
Caiiyle, and Shakespeare. He considered the 
Constitution of the United States as a piece of 



112 The Way of Salvation. 

wi'iting to be studied, but he did not hesitate 
to place Moses and Isaiah and Paul above the 
literary celebrities whom he named. The Ser- 
mon on the Mount, as a piece of literary work, 
stands infinitely above the Constitution of 
the United States. The Bible, as a whole, out- 
ranks as literature any volume of literature 
known in the world. As literature, the Bible 
is absolutely unique. Its history, its poetry, 
its prophesy, its parables, its aphorisms, its 
ethical codes, aie uni-ivaled in the literature 
of the ages. 

Charles Reade allirms that the characters 
in Scripture are a literary mai'vel. Run over 
the list of the Bible characters, and see if this 
be not true. Considei', if you please, right- 
eous Abel, patient Noah, spiritual Abi'aham, 
self-conscious and self-seeking Lot, peaceful 
Isaac, bargaining Jacob, talented Joseph, meek 
Moses, eloquent Aaron, pei'sistent Joshua, ener- 
getic Caleb, sign-seeking Gideon, playful Sam- 
son, undisciplined Saul, fi'iendly Jonathan, pious 
David, wily Joab, willful Absalom, self-conceited 
Solomon, lonely Elijah, fretful Jonah, hopeful 
Isaiah, and faithful Daniel. 



The Unique Character of the Bible. 1L3 

Run over the names of some of the chief 
women of the Bible. In the Old Testament 
we have Sarah, the mother of the faithful; 
Rebecca, "who may be characterized as the 
beautiful but deceitful wife; Rachel, the affec- 
tionate and devoted wife of Jacob; Miriam, 
the patriotic old maid; Ruth, the young widow 
of Moab; Deborah, the strong-minded woman; 
Jepiha's daughter, the devoted maiden; Han- 
nah, the pious mother of Samuel; Jezebel, the 
,heathen queen of an Israelitish king; Esther, 
the Israelitish queen of a heathen king, not to 
mention others. 

In the New Testament there are Elizabeth, 
the mother of John the Baptist; Mary, the 
mother of the Christ child; Anna, the last 
prophetess of the old dispensation; Herodias, 
the mother of the dancing girl; Joanna, the 
wife of Herod's stew^ard; the woman of Canaan 
w^ho, because of her persistent intercession 
for her daughter, may well be characterized 
as a heroine of faith; the woman of Samaria, 
whom the Master met at Jacob's well; the 
daughter of Jairus, whom Jesus restored to 
life; Dorcas, the w^oman full of good works and 



114 The Kay of Salvation. 

alms deeds; Sapphira, the woman who lied, the 
wife of Ananias; and, without attempting to 
exhaust the list, Lydia, the enterprising busi- 
ness woman and the first convert to Christianity 
in Europe. 

Jonah is to us a real character. He lives 
and moves, and has a being on the sacred 
page to such an extent that we almost feel 
as if we would recognize him were we to 
meet him on the street, and yet the presen- 
tation of this character is in forty-eight verses 
or one thousand three hundred and twenty- 
eight English words. I am not surprised that 
Mr. Reade should affirm that Jonah is the 
most beautiful story ever written in so small 
a compass. 

Two women named Marv and Martha ar 
mentioned by two writers in the New Testa- 
ment, Luke and John. Luke gives five verses 
and John fourteen to Mary and Martha, but 
few as are the words used in describing these 
women, their characters stand out befoi'e us 
as absolutely perfect — that is to say, as real 
women of different types. Mr. Heade does not, 
therefore, exaggerate when he says that the 



The Unique Character of the Bible, 115 

characters in Scriptui-e are a literary marvel. 
Compare, if you will, the two Books of Samuel 
with the w^ritings of Homer and Virgil, with 
an eve to the characters described bv the 
unknown writer of the Books of Samuel, as 
compared with the characters described by 
such high dignitaiies in the republic of let- 
ters as Homer and Virgil. The characters of 
the Bible written in the East, live forever 
in the West. Written in one province, they 
pervade the world. Penned in rude times, 
they are prized more and more as civilization 
advances. Products of antiquity, they come 
home to the business and bosoms of men, 
women and children in modern days. This is 
a marvel. Shakespeare translated into French 
is not Shakespeare; translated into Chinese, 
his immortal dramas are simply nothing; but 
the Bible translated into any language on 
the globe throbs with life. 
- The Bible is unique in that it excites thought, 
investigation, criticism, as no other book in 
all the world. In our time very much is said, 
about the higher criticism. Have you ever 
thought of the remarkable fact that the higher 



116 The \yay' of Salvation, 

critics spend their time in an examination 
and discussion of sixty-six little, insignificant 
pamphlets, the sacred literature of a small, 
isolated, scattered and persecuted nation, 
which in numbers is positively insignificant 
in comparison to the vast multitudes who 
accept the volumiiious sacred books of the 
Orient. Why is it that such attention is given 
to this literature, and so little to the mighty 
mass of Assyrian, Babylonian, Chinese, Hindoo, 
and Thibetian sacred literature? Whv is it 
that the writings of Moses and Isaiah are 
scanned so closely while the writings of Con- 
fucius and Mohammed are passed by so lightly? 
Why is it that the teachings of Jesus and Paul 
are examined again and again microscopically 
bv the learned men of the woi'ld, while the 
teachings of Buddha and Zoroaster excite 
but little interest, and that languid? Why 
is it that this sacred literature has been 
translated bv its teachers into all the Ian- 
guages of the earth, and is to-day being 
desseminated annually to the extent of many 
millions of copies, while the disciples of 
Mohammed and Confucius, of Buddha and 



The Unique Character of the Bible, 117 

Zoroaster, have never thought enough of their 
sacred literature to translate it and give it 
to the world? The fact is that to translate 
the writings we mentioned would be to de- 
grade and destroy. The Bible stands unique, 
then, in this regard, among the books of the 
earth. 

I remember to have heard Joseph Cook say 
in the Parliament of Religions, that it is as 
certain that the Bible came from God as that 
it leads m«n to God. That the Bible came 
from God — is God inspired — is the only rational 
explanation of its unique character. Is it 
certain that the Bible leads to God? Matthew 
Arnold says try all the ways to righteousness 
you can think of, and you will find that no 
way brings you to it, except the way of 
Jesus. Attempt to do without Israel's God, 
who makes for righteousness, and you will find 
out your mistake. Attempt to reach right- 
eousness by any way except that of Jesus, 
and you _ will also find out your mistake. I 
quote Matthew Arnold on this point, because 
he is not famous as an orthodox theologian, 
as an evangelical Christian. His testimony. 



118 The Way of Salvation. 

because of his well known character and his 
superior ability as a literary critic, is all the 
more valuable. 

' Does the Bible lead men to God? It is a 
fact that the study of the Bible and the prac- 
tice of its precepts make men better in all 
the walks of life. If its principles could be 
made the principles of conduct everywhere, 
what a transformation would take place in 
the conduct of men toward each other and in 
the constitution, of human society? The ethical 
teaching of the Bible touches every point of 
life. It contains instruction for princes and 
paupers, for rulers and ruled, for masters and 
servants, for husbands and wives, for parents 
and children. It requires that in all the 
walks of life whatever men do they shall do 
as unto God. It obliterates the distinction 
between sacred and secular, making all things 
done in the right spirit, that is as in the sight 
of God, sacred. 

i Before leaving this point, permit me to intro- 
duce the testimony of Professor Huxley con- 
cerning the Bible as an ethical text book. 
Mr. Huxley said, in an address on the subject 



The Unique Character of the Bible, 119 

of education: "I have alwavs been stronG:lv in 
favor of secular education in the sense of edu- 
cation witliout theology, but I must confess I 
have been no less seriously perplexed to 
know by w^hat practical measures the re- 
ligious feeling which is the essential basis of 
conduct was to be kept up in the present 
utterly chaotic state of opinion on these mat- 
ters without the use of the Bible. The pagan 
moralists lack life and color, and even the 
noble stoic Marcus Antoninus is too high and 
refined for an ordinary child. Take the Bible 
as a whole, make the severest deductions 
which fair criticism can dictate, and there 
still remains in this old literature a vast 
residuum of moral beauty and grandeur. By 
the study of what other book could children 
be so humanized?" 

' Some time since, when engaged in the de- 
livery of a series of sermons on the Bible, a 
gentleman who signed himself "A Rationalist," 
sent a card through the mail to my address, 
containing the following quotations from Felix 
Adler; "If I were to follow the prevailing 
fashion, and make a list of the books that 



120 The Way of Salvation. 

have helped me, I should place the Bible at 
the head of the list. But the Bible is not a 
book, it is a literature; that is, it is many 
books. Parts of it are as dry as the arid 
desert; as wholesome as a malarial swamp. 
Other parts are grand and sublime. Those 
who worship it as perfection are ignorant; 
those who denounce it are equally ignorant. 
It is composed of a number of authors, each 
to be judged on his own merits." 

"The Bible is not a book, but a literature." 
From the birth of Moses to the death of John 
the Apostle is a period of sixteen centuries. 
The sixty-six tracts composing the literature 
which we denominate the Bible, were written 
by men in almost every conceivable station, 
and under almost every conceivable environ- 
ment. They were men of education and men 
of no learning; men reared in palaces, and 
men brought up in the midst of the most 
humble surroundings; men of high station and 
low; men of wealth and of poverty; men of 
good character and bad. Literally, all sorts 
and conditions of men appear upon the pages 
of this literature, and contribute, in one w'ay 



The Unique CharaGter of the Bible. 121 

and anotherj to its production. And yet, with 
one voice, mankind agree in treating this lit- 
erature, so long in course of preparation and 
prepared und«r such various environments, as 
a book which thev denominate bv wav of 
prominence the Bible, that is, the Book. Here 
is something marvelous. One mind seems to 
dominate this literatui^e; one subject seems to 
pervade it from first to last — the revelation 
of the way of deliverance from the thraldom 
of sin. 

Professor Adler says that "parts of the 
Bible are as dry as the arid desert, and as 
wholesome as a malarial swamp." While we 
must consider this as at least a verbal ex- 
travagance, it must be confessed that different 
parts of the Bible are of different value. The 
author certainly does^not desire to be under- 
stood as affirming, in the literal and legitimate 

use of the w^ords, that there is a moral malaria 
lurking in any part of these writings. As has 

been intimated, different parts of the Bible 

have different uses and may possess different 

values, but no part of this unique volume is 

at any time hurtful to any man. " 



122 The Way of Salvation, 



The Old Testament reveals the patriarchal 
and the Hebrew religions. The prophet Mal- 
achi (iv. 4) afl'irms that the law of Moses, 
with its statutes and judgments, was intended 
for all Israel. The preamble to the decalogue 
teaches the same. If you desire to know what 
Judaism is, read the Old Testament. If you 
desire to know what Christianity is, read the 
New Testament. If you would understand 
what it is to be a Jew in religious faith and 
life, consult the pages of the Old Testament. 
If vou desire to know what it is to be a 
Christian in faith, in spirit, in conduct, ponder 
the New Testament. In the Old Testament 
vou will learn much as to the nature and 
consequences of sin, the utter helplessness of 
man in his fallen estate; the fundamental 
principles of the Divine government; the 
nature of God and his gracious purposes 
concerning man. " 

Jesus and the apostles encouraged reading 
the Old Testament. The Master said, Search 
the Old Testament writings for they are they 
which testifv of me. When Paul said that all 
Scripture given by inspiration of God is 



The Unique Character of the Bible, 123 

profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correc- 
tion, for instruction in righteousness, that the 
man of God may be perfect and thoroughly 
furnished unto all good works, he referred 
specifically and primarily to the Old Testament 
writings. It is a fact that the New Testa- 
ment can not be understood without the Old. 
Some one said long ago that the Old Testa- 
ment is the New Testament concealed, while 
the New Testament is the Old Testament 
revealed. 

The New Testament naturally falls into four 
divisions: the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles, 
the Apocalypse. The Gospels reveal Christ; 
the Book of Acts indicates the way of return 
to God; the Epistles show the application of 
Christian principles to daily life; the Apoca- 
lypse describes in symbolic terms the destiny 
of those who, by Divine grace, overcome. The 
Gospels answer the question, Who is Jesus? 
Acts of Apostles contains the reply to the 
question, What must I do to be saved? The 
Epistles answer the inquiry, How does Chris- 
tianity require me to conduct myself from day 
to day toward God, toward man? The Book 



124 The Way of Salvation. 

of Revelation answers the question, What has 
God provided for those who love him and keep 
his commandments? Do not fail, I beg of you, 
to note before we leave the words quoted 
from Professor Adler the fact that this agnos- 
tic Hebrew declares that if he were to follow 
the prevailing fashion and make a list of the 
books that have been most helpful to him, he 
would place the Bible at the top of the col- 
umn. 

That was a brave thing that Joseph Cook 
did last summer in the Parliament of Religions 
in the city of Chicago, \Nhen in the presence 
of representatives of Oriental faiths he said, 
as only the oracle of Tremont Temple could 
say, quoting Shakespeare: 

"Here is Lady Macbeth: 

•See how she rubs her hands. 

Out, damned spot! Will these hands ne*er be 

clean? 
All the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten 

this little hand.' 

"x\nd her husband, in a similar mood says: 

'This red, right hand, it would 
The multitudinous seas incardine, 
Making the green, one red.* 



The Unique Character of the Bible. 125 

"What religion can wash Lady Maebeth's 
right hand? That is a question I propose to 
the four continents and all ihe isles of the sea. 
Unless vou can answer that inouirv, vou have 
not come hither with a suffioiently serious 
purpose to a Parliament of Religions. 

"I take Ladv Macbeth on mv rio:ht arm and 
her husband on my left, and we three walk 
down here to the benches of the sceptics of 
our time who are not represented in this Par- 
liament. Anti-Christian literature in our day 
is usually half chaff and half chaffing. But I 
put to infidels the question: 'Can you wash 
our red, right hand?' All that scepticism or 
average liberalism says, or ever has said, in 
answer to this supreme inquiry is as insuf- 
ficient to meet man's deepest spiritual neces- 
sities as a fishing rod would be to bridge this 
great lake, or the Atlantic. 

"I turn to Mohammedanism. Can vou wash 
our red, right hands? I turn to Confucianism 
and Budv.lhism and Brahmanism Can vou 
w^ash our red, right hands? So help me God, 
I mean to ask a question this afternoon that 
shall. go in some hearts across the seas and to 



126 The Way of Salvation. 

the antipodes, and I ask it in the name of 
what I hold to be an absolutely self-evident 
truth that unless a man is washed from the 
love of sin and the guilt of sin, he can not be 
at peace in the presence of infinite holiness." 
It must be confessed by all reasonable peo- 
ple that the Bible is absolutely unique in this, 
that whether it is true or false, whether it is 
Divine or human in its origin, it speaks orac- 
ularly concerning the wav of deliverance 
from sin. It points out specifically the way 
of pardon and peace. It tells men in terms 
unmistakably plain how they may become sons 
of God and heirs to an uncorruptible inherit- 
ance. Whence came this unique Book? What 
must have been the origin of a book which 
extorts such declarations and confessions as 
have been quoted in this address fi'om men 
holding high positions in the republic of let- 
ters and in the department of science! Whence 
came this Book? Is it of God, or is it of man? 
It must be that it is a supernatural Book. It 
is supernatural in its contents. Attempt to 
erase the supernatural from the Bible and 
what is left? 



The Unique Character of the Bible. Il27 

You will erase, to present but a partial 
summary, the Mosaic account of the creation; 
the deliverance of the law on Mount Sinai; 
the doctrine of human redemption as laid down 
in both the Old and the New Testaments. You 
will erase the stories of the translations of 
Enoch and Elijah; the story of the flood and 
the deliverance of Noah; the wonders in Egypt 
and the wilderness of Sinai; the deliverance 
of Daniel in Babylon from the fury of the lions; 
the escape of the three Hebrew young men 
from the burning fiery furnace; the fire from 
heaven consuming Elijah's sacrifice on Mount 
Carmel; the handwriting on the wall at Bel- 
schazzar's feast; the appearance of angels to 
Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, etc.; the story 
of the burning bush, and the call of the great 
emancipator and lawgiver; the appearance of 
the angel to Daniel; the annunciation of the 
same Gabriel to Mary; the overshadowing of 
the Holy Ghost; the miraculous conception of 
the world's Redeemer; the appearance of the 
angels to the shepherds on Bethlehem's plains, 
announcing the birth of the King of the Jews; 
the luminous appearance in the sky which 



128 The Kay of Salvation, 

guided the wise men of the East; the sign at 
the baptism of Jesus; the voice from heaven 
saying, this is my Son; the scene on ihe Mount 
of Transfiguration, in which God declared 
audibly that men must hear this Son; the 
protracted fast, and the thrice repeated temp- 
tation of the Nazarene; the turning of the water 
into wine; the giving of sight to ihe blind; 
the cleansing of leprous bodies; the raising 
of dead ones; the descent of the Spirit on 
Pentecost; the ascension, and coronation! of 
ihe Messiah; the resurrection of the Son of 
Man; his appearance during forty days after 
his resui'rection and before his ascension; the 
gift of tongues, and so on and on from Genesis 
to Revelation. 

Eliminating the miraculous from this liter- 
ature, there is absolutely nothing left. But not 
only is the Bible a supernatural book in its 
contents, but it is supernatural in its origin and 
in its efTects. Here is a fact, we look upon it, we 
walk about it, we examine it, we name it, we 
call it the Bible. This Bible is the work 
either of good men or bad men, or of angels 
or of devils, or of God himself. You can not 



The Unique Character of the Bible, 129 

think of any other intelligences to whom the 
authorship of this Book can possibly be re- 
ferred. It is impossible that good men unaided 
by the Divine Spirit are the authors of this 
literature, because in every part of it, in 
every chapter, in every paragraph, in every 
line, directly or by implication, ihey say God 
is the author of this. If, however, they were 
doing this w^ork of themselves, without super- 
natural aid, thev lie when thev aflQrm that 
God is the author. They cease, therefore, to 
be good men. Bad men can not be the authors 
of this Book unless a stream can rise higher 
than its fountain, because, in the first place, 
from beginning to end this Book condemns 
evil thoughts, evil purposes, evil plans, evil 
words, evil deeds. Can you conceive of bad 
men combining to produce a literature which 
always and everywhere condemns them at every 
point. We need not stop, nor have we time 
to pause to consider the suggestion that pos- 
sibly this Book originated with disembodied 
spirits, good or bad, angels or demons. What 
does any man know about such spirits aside 
from the revelation contained in the Bible? 



1-30 ' The Way of Salvation. 

The conclusion, therefore, is irresistible that 
the Bible is of supernatural origin; that it 
is in this sense a supernatural book— it has 
God for its author. It is unique in this. There 
is no other literature among men, nor has 
there ever been, nor will there ever be, 
inspired of God in the sense in which this 
literature is given by inspiration. 

Finally, the Bible is unique in that it is a 
Book of promise. The life of Christ is the 
story of the beginning of the fulfillment of 
promises which had cheered the faithful in 
the darkest hours of Juda's apostacy and ruin. 
The letters of Paul are the unfolding of that 
fulfillment in all spiritual experience, ever 
pointing to a richer and yet richer fulfillment 
in the ever increasing crescendo movement 
of the future, and the literature of promise 
ends with an Apocalyptic vision of perfecting 
but never perfected fulfillment in the latter 
days. 

The Bible is like a symphony weaving end- 
less variations around one simple theme, which, 
obscure at first, grows stronger and clearer, 
until finally the whole orchestra takes it up 



The Unique Character of the Bible. 1-31 

in one magnificant choral, conquering all 
obstacles and breaking through all hidings. 

Abraham is beckoned out of the land of 
idolatry by the finger of promise. Joseph 
is cheered in danger and in prison by the 
memory of a dream of promise. Moses is 
called by promise from his herding in the 
wilderness to lead a nation of promise out 
of bondage into a promised land. Joshua 
is called to his captaincy with reiterated 
promises. Gideon is inspired for his campaign- 
ing by repeated promises. David is sustained 
in the cave of Adullam, and strengthened in 
the palace in Jerusalem by promise. From 
Isaiah to Malachi the note of promise, befbre 
broken and fragmentary, sounds without a 
pause. The shepherds are brought to the Christ 
by an angelic message of promise. He begins 
his ministry by a sermon at Nazareth, which 
is a promise of glad tidings to the poor, and 
ends it in his ascension with a promise of his 
return. Paul lives on promise as on manna 
heaven descended, declaring, in the midst of 
great tribulations, 'We are saved by hope; for 
what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for?' 



132 The }yay of Salvation. 

and John closes the canon with a book wliose 
glory is like the glory of a setting sun, which 
promises a clear to-niorro\v." 



AN HONEST DOUBTER. 

"Art thou he thiit should come? or look we 
/or another?" — Luke vii. 19. 

The person propounding these questions was 
none other than John the Baptist. The per- 
son to whom the questions were propounded 
was Jesus. John was in prison. He commu- 
nicated with Jesus, his kinsman according to 
the flesh, through two of his disciples. He 
seems to have been in doubt as to whether, 
after all, Jesus was the person predicted by 
Moses and the prophets. To settle this doubt 
was the purpose of this message by this com- 
mittee of two. 

The connection shows that the doubts to be 
settled were John's and not those of his dis- 
ciples, because, after the messengers had left 
Jesus with his reply addressed to John, the 
Master began to talk to the people concern- 
ing the Baptist. His words leave no doubt 
that John had done, or was doing that which 

13a 



134 The Way of Salvation, 

would pj'oduce in the minds of the people an 
unfavorable impression concerning the strength 
and stability of his character. Jesus said, 
therefore, When you went into the wilderness, 
did you go for the pui'pose of seeing a frail 
reed trembling in the breeze? Did you leave 
your homes, and go into the wilderness to 
look uj)on a man clothed in soft attire, a man 
delicate as if accustomed to kings' courts? 
You did not go to see an effeminate man, a gor- 
geously appareled person, one who bore evidence 
of high living, but you went to see a grand, 
strong, rugged, solid man. If you suppose from 
the inquiries which I have received from John 
that he is frail, effeminate, weak, hesitating, 
vacillating, you entirely misjudge him. When 
you went out into the wilderness to see and 
hear the great preacher, you w^ent that you 
might give attention not only to a prophet, 
to one who speaks instead of or in behalf of 
God, but you went to see one who was much 
more than a prophet. This one, whose preach- 
ing drew you into that lonely place, was a 
messenger predicted by Malachi, who should 
precede Messiah, preparing the way before him. 



An Honest Doubter, 135 

I tell you, said Jesus in this connectioiij That 
among those born of women there is not a 
greater prophet than John the Baptist. 

What the Christ said at this time about the 
son of Zaeharias and Elizabeth can only be 
understood on the supposition that John him- 
self was in doubt as to the Messianic claims 
of Jesus, and he wished a communication 
from the possible Messiah of a character to 
displace these doubts by a strong faith. 

But John had borne very explicit testimony 
to the Divine nature and mission of Jesus. 
He had spoken of him as the Lamb of God, 
which taketh awav the sins of the world. He 
declared that he himself had been sent to 
preach and baptize for the express purpose of 
introducing Messiah to Israel. He had said 
that he saw the Spirit at the baptism of Jesus 
descending from heaven like a dove and rest- 
ing upon him. By this he knew that Jesus 
was the Son of God, and so he testified to 
this truth. He even spoke to his disciples 
in such a way concerning Jesus as to lead 
them to turn from himself and follow after the 
person whom John and they supposed to be 



136 The Way of Salvation, 

the Son of God. How was it possible foi- this 
man who had seen the heavens opened, and the 
Spirit, in the form of a dove, descending and 
resting upon Jesus; who had heard a voice 
from the excellent gloi^'y declaring, This is my 
Son in whom I am well pleased— how was it 
possible for this man, having passed through 
these. experiences and having borne such clear 
and emphatic testimony to Jesus, to fall into 
doubt? How could he be brought into a state 
of mind in which he would inquire of Jesus, 
Art thou he that should come? or look we 
for another? 

To undei'stand this it is necessary to con- 
sider the work of John the Baptist, and the 
kind of man physically, mentally and morally 
that he must have been to do such a work. 

We speak of our distinguished evangelists 
who, in great centers of population, in theatres, 
halls, and churches, and tabernacles, address 
evening after evening great throngs of peo- 
ple—we speak of these preachers as great 
men, men of extraordinary power. But what 
shall we say of John whose preaching was not 
in a densely populated disti'ict, but in the 



An Honest Doubter, 137 

wilderness; who delivered no discourses in 
well-appointed auditoriums; but preached in 
the open air, and whose proclamation was of 
such a character that Jerusaleni and Judea 
and all the region round about Jordan went 
into the wilderness to see and hear him. What 
a power as a preacher this man must have 
possessed ! Nor did they come merely to gratify 
an idle curiosity, but if this, in the first place, 
was a reason for their going, his preaching 
was of such power that they were led to con- 
fess their sins, and receive baptism at his 
hands, in token of their determination to live 
better lives. 

Now, a man who could do this kind of a 
work was not a pale, thin, nervous, delicate, 
poetic, esthetic sort of individual. He must 
have been physically solid, rugged, energetic, 
strong. We know that his habits of life were 
of the plainest. His raiment, we are told, 
was of camel's hair, a leathern girdle was 
about his loins, while his meat was locusts 
and wild honev. As I trv to picture to mv 
mind the personal appearance of John, the 
wilderness preacher, I think incidently of 



138 The Way of Salvation, 

men like Spurgeon and Moody; rugged, honest, 
plain, blunt, strong men. But there must have 
been in John's mental and moral make-up, 
clearness of vision, largeness of hope, tender- 
ness of sympathy, to move people in the fash- 
ion in which they were moved, and to the 
extent to which the entire community was 
stirred. 

There was something about this man to take 
hold upon the people with a mighty grasp. 
This preacher was intensely human. This 
preacher was a hopeful man. This preacher 
was tenderly sympathetic. He must have been, 
in order to produce results such as are at- 
tributed to him in our ancient sacred liter- 
ature. 

The preaching of John the Baptist was in- 
tensely personal. He said to Herod that he 
was a sinner in that he was living with Hero- 
dias, his brother's wife, in the marital rela- 
tion. John said to him. It is not lawful' for 
vou to live in this wav with this woman. 

t. t. 

Herodias was furious. Herod, to gratify his 
wife, would have put the great preacher to 
death, but he feared the multitude. The masses 



. An Honest Doubter, 139 

of the people believed that John was a prophet 
of the Most High. 

The preacher, therefore, instead of being 
executed without delay, was imprisoned. When 
he sent the two messengers to Jesus he sent 
them from his prison cell. Word had come 
to John concerning the words of and the deeds 
of the Master. The disciples of John reported 
to their master what Jesus was saying and 
doing. 

You are now to consider the probable limi- 
tations of John's understanding of the mission 
of the Master. Jesus' own disciples, men who 
were near to him, who had access to his per- 
son everv dav and everv hour in the dav, 
who could propound questions and listen to 
the answers, who could receive from his im- 
maculate lips saying after saying, and precept 
after precept, with illustration upon illustra- 
tion, failed to grasp the meaning of his mes- 
sage and ministry. When he spoke to theni 
about a kingdom, they understood him to m^an 
a temporal kingdom. Hence the wife of Zebe- 
dee, the mother of James and John, approached 
him with a request that he would give the 



140 The Way of Salvation, 

young men honored positions in his govern- 
ment, inviting them to sit the one upon his 
right hand and the other upon his left when 
he would appear in his kingdom. Mother Zebe- 
dee desired that one of her sons should be 
made Secretary of State, and that another 
should be made Secretary of the Treasury, 
or something of that kind. The meaning of 
her application and of theirs was, Make these, 
my sons, make us, members of your cabinet 
when you shall organize your government. 
Evidently, they had in view a government 
similar to the worldly empires and monarch- 
ies, and states and republics, of which they 
had heard and read, and with which they 
were acquainted. That Jesus came to establish 
a spiritual dominion seems not to have en- 
tered their minds. Even after his death, bur- 
ial, and triumphal resurrection; after the forty 
days that he had spent with them subsequent 
to his victorv over death and hell and the 
grave; as they were on their way to the 
Mount of Ascension, his disciples said. Lord, 
wilt thou at this time restore again the king- 
dom of Israel? They were still thinking of a 



An Honest Doubter, 141 

tempoi'al goveramen.t. They were still think- 
ing of and expecting the time ta come when, 
unjder the leadership of Jesus, the Roman 
yok-e would be broken, the Roman authority 
would be thrown aside; when he would call 
about him a cabinet, organize a government, 
cause an army to come into existence, and- 
begin to rule aft^r the fashion of Saul, and 
David, and Solomon. 

Now, have we reason to think that John 
the Baptist understood the end of our Lord's 
raiission more clearly, more accurately, than this 
mission was understood by his immediate per- 
sonal friends and devoted followers? It is 
true that John, at the baptism of Jesus, 
and for a few days thereafter, had a pretty 
clear view, apparently, of these matters, but 
his understanding was not so thorough as to 
become a part of his being. It was an under- 
standing that was, comparatively speaking, 
shallow, unsubstantial. Men come to an under- 
standing; of truth little bv little. This is vour 
experience and mine. It is the expeinence of 
all men. Approaching truth is much like ap- 
proaching the land from the ocean. Standing 



142 The \yay of Salvation. 

on the deck and looking out for land, one 
thinks he has descried a point, and calls to 
his friend and says. Is there not land in the 
distance? But now he can not see it, his friend 
can not see it, and together they conclude 
that there must be some mistake, that he did 
not see land as he supposed. The fact is, 
standing on the forward part of the deck, 
with the ship on the crest of a great wave, 
he did see land, but when he and his friend 
looked in that direction, the ship had plunged 
into a trough of the sea, and the land was 
not visible. So in life's vova2;e we are lifted 
up and cast down; we move forward, and we 
fall back. We catch glimpses of truth, and 
then the truth which passed hastily before 
our vision disappears, to re-appear by and by 
as slowlv and labor iouslv we move forward. 

t. t. 

At last w^e see it, grasp it, take it in so thor- 
oughly that it becomes a part of our nature, 
and we almost wonder that there was ever 
a time in our experience when we did not 
understand this matter just as we understand 
it noW'. 

So I w^ould interpret John in his ringing 



An Honest Doubter. 143 

testimony to the Christ, and in the doubts 
which seem to have troubled him when he 
was a prisoner awaiting the hour of his death. 

Then you must consider that a man of the 
temperament which w^e have attributed to this 
great preacher is a man w^ho, when his loved 
activities are interfered with, naturally falls 
into despondency and doubt. An emotional 
man he must have been, but men of emotional 
temperament, while they mount up to a very 
great height, are cast dow^n to a very great 
depth. If John could have gone on preaching 
repentance and the approaching reign of heaven, 
he probably w^ould not have fallen into the 
state of mind in w^hich he was when he in- 
quired, "Art thou he which should come?" 
But his work being suddenly and permanently 
interrupted, one of the most natural things 
was that he should fall into the state of mind 
which is in this discourse attributed to him. 

There are other illustrations of experience 
not unlike this in the Bible and in the his- 
tory of the church. 

Elijah, the Tishbite, furnishes an illustx^a- 
tion of the thought which is now in my mind. 



144 The War of Salvation. 

You remember the story of the scene on Mount 
Carmel between Elijah, the prophets of Baal, 
and the prophets of the groves, eight hundred 
and fifty in number. Elijah was charged with 
troubling Israel. He indignantly denied the 
accusation. He said to Ahab, "I have not 
troubled Israel, but you and your father's 
house in that ye have forsaken the command- 
ments of the Lord, and have followed Baalam." 
It was agreed that a test should be made as 
to whether Baal or Jehovah was the true God. 
Elijah said, "Give us two bullocks. Let Baal's 
prophets choose one of these bullocks, and cut 
it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no 
fire under. I will take the other bullock, 
dress it, lay it on wood, put no fire under. 
You will call on the names of your gods; I will 
call on the name of the Lord. Let it be un- 
derstood that the god who answers by fire, he 
will be regarded as the true god." To this 
proposition the people agreed. Elijah ad- 
dressed the prophets of Baal. He said, "Choose 
you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it; 
for ve are manv; call on the name of vour 
gods. Be careful that you conceal no fire in 



An Honest Doubter, 145 

the altar." It was done. From morning until 
noon the prophets of this false god shouted, 
"0 Baal, hear us! Baal, hear us!" But 
there was no response. Elijah mocked them. 
He said, "Baal is a god, but he is talking, or 
he is on a journey, or he has become weary 
and has fallen asleep. Cry aloud; you must 
wake him." Poor ignorant silly souls! They 
did not understand that Elijah was dealing 
in sarcasm. They, therefore, cried aloud. They 
cut themselves with knives and lancets until 
the blood gushed out upon them. Finally, they 
gave up in despair. 

Then Elijah said to the people, "Come near 
unto me." He repaired the altar of the Lord 
which had been broken dow^n. He built in the 
name of the Lord an altar and digged a trench 
about it. He placed wood on the altar. He 
slew^ his bullock, divided it into pieces, and 
placed the pieces on the w^ood. He commanded 
that four barrels of water should be poured 
over the whole. "Do this a second time," he 
said. They did it. "Do it a third time," and 
the third time they did it. This was done 
that there might be no suspicion of concealed 



146 The Way of Salvation. 

fire in, on, under or about tlie altar. Having 
made the necessary preparation Elijah called 
on the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, 
and said, "Let it be known this day that thou 
art Gcd in Israel, and that I am^ thy servant. 
Hear me, that this people may know that thou 
art the Lord CJod, and that thou hast turned 
their heart back again." And while he prayed 
the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the 
burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, 
and the dust, and licked up the water that was 
in the trench. The people seeing this response 
to Elijah's appeal , fell on their faces and de- 
clared, "The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, 
be is the God." Elijah commanded that the 
priests of Baal should be slain, that not one 
of them should escape. 

Now, if you suppose that the prophet passed 
through this experience without excitement, 
without his nervous system having been brought 
up to the highest tension, you are mistaken. 
It was most natural that there should come 
a reaction, and that this courageous conduct 
on his part, and this mighty victory, should 
be followed by a season of great despondency 



An Honest Doubter, 147 

and a terrible defeat, and so it was. When 
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, 
and that he had slain the prophets of Baal 
with the sword, she became enraged, and sent 
a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods 
do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life 
as the life of one of them by to-morrow about 
this time." When he received that message 
he ran, he made good time, he ran a whole 
day off into the wilderness, and the next we 
see of this grand, rugged, strong, brave, cour- 
ageous man, he is under a juniper tree, wish- 
ing that he might die. He said, "I have been 
very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for 
the children of Israel have forsaken thy cov- 
enant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy 
prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, 
am left; and they seek my life, to take it 
awav." 

Another illustration presents itself in the 
history of Moses. After he liad, with a per- 
sistent courage almost incredible, led his peo- 
ple out of the land of Egypt, out of the house 
of bondage, and while they were encamped on 
the peninsula of Sinai, at the base of the 



148 The Way of Salvation, 

mountain, they forgot him, and his and their 
God. Within fortv davs thev had so far for- 
gotten all that he had done for ihem, and, all 
that Jehovah had wrought in their behalf, that 
they made a calf of gold and proceeded to 
worship it. 

Moses' anger waxed high. He seemed to 
become utterly discouraged. He appeared to 
feel: My effort is in vain. I have left a pal- 
ace, turned from a throne, spurned a scepter, 
cast aside a crown, given up my heirship to 
-the mightiest monarchy on earth that I mi.a;ht 
lead a nation of slaves into liberty, and they 
care not for me, nor for my God, nor for the 
liberty into which I would bring them. Cast- 
ing himself before God, he says: "Oh! this 
people have sinned a great sin, and have made 
them' gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, for- 
give their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, 
out of thy book which thou hast written." 
This is the cry of an utterly disheartened 
man. His faith and courage seem for the time 
to have deserted him. The response of the 
Lord to Moses was, "Whosoever hath sinned 
asiiainst me, him will I blot out of mv book." 



An Honest Doubter. 149 

David had these seasons of discouragement, 
despondency, doubt, unbelief. Read the He- 
brew hymn book, and note the evidence furn- 
ished therein of the absolute correctness of 
this statement. 

Jeremiah furnishes another illustration of 
the same character of experience on the part 
of a large, grand, good man. He saw the evils 
coming to his people. He saw^ the impending 
ruin to his government. He protested against 
the wrong; he pleaded for the right; he coun- 
seled wisely. He entreated and besought with 
tears, but the people rushed on madly. Jere- 
miah saw so clearly the ruin that was im- 
pending that his name has come to be a 
synonym for sadness, and sorrow, and tears, 
and bitter grief. 

Paul w^as not always full of faith and cour- 
age, w^e may well believe. When he was in 
the city of Corinth, for instance, the Lord 
spoke to him in the night by a vision saying: 
"Be not afraid to speak, and hold not thy 
peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall 
set on thee to hurt thee." More than once in 
the experience of this great man are there 



150 The Way of Salvation, 

indications that he wavered, tottered, stag- 
gered, almost fell. What an exclamation of 
bitter agony drops from the tip of his pen as 
in the Epistle to the Romans he cries: "Oh! 
wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me 
from this dead body?" This exclamation, which 
sounds up from the depths of despair, follows 
immediately after the record of his experi- 
ence: "The good that I would I do not: but 
the evil which I would not, that I do." When 
he was in prison in Rome, writing the Epistle 
to the Saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi with 
the bishops and deacons, he seems to have 
been disheartened, discouraged, because he 
says, "I have a desire to depart, and to be with 
Christ, which is far better." As I read this, 
Paul says: "I am tired, I am weary, I have had 
enough of this conflict, I want to get out of it 
and find rest. Notwithstanding," says this 
moral hero, "for me to remain in the flesh is 
needful to you." 

Instances are abundant in the history of the 
church that grand men in all days, centers and 
generations, have been subjects of an unhappy 
experience similar to that through which John 



An Honest Doubter* 151 

the Baptist was passing when the message 
which constitutes the text of this sermon was 
sent. Charles Wesley wrote the hymn begin- 
ning w^ith the words; "Jesus, lover of my soul," 
in 1740, during the first stormy scenes of his 
itinerant preaching. Whether the figures in 
its stanzas were suggested by the storms of the 
Atlantic which the w^riter had but recently 
encountered, or by the storms of human pas- 
sion, we can not say, but there are evidences 
in the hvmn that the writer was crvine; in 
his helplessness to the Unseen Power for shelter 
from some pitiless storm. In Charles Wesley's 
journey on the Atlantic he thus describes his 
spiritual conflicts and triumphs during a storm: 
"I prayed for power to pray; for faith in Jesus 
Christ; continually repeating his name till I 
felt the virtue of it at last, and knew I abode 
under the shadow of the Almighty. The storm 
was at its height. At 4 o'clock the ship made 
so much water that the captain, finding it im- 
possible to save her from sinking, cut down the 
mizzen-mast. In this dreadful moment I blessed 
God. I found comfort and hope, and such joy 
in finding I could hope as the world can neither 



152 The Way of Salvation, 

give nor take a\vay. I think that conviction 
of the power of God present with me, over- 
ruling fear and raising me above what I am 
by nature, has surpassed all rational evidence." 

The familiar hvmn of Rav Palmer, "Mv faith 
looks up to Thee," was written about the year 
ISS'}. He was a student at the time, prepar- 
ing for the ministry, and his health was very 
poor and his worldly prospects clouded. He 
felt that the world could promise him noth- 
ing, and in an hour of despondency the young 
student turned as his only help and resource 
to the promises of God. Comforted in spirit 
by Him to whom all things are possible, he 
tells his experience, and expresses his hope for 
the future, in the grand old hymn which we 
sing in our churches. 

Cowper's hymn, "God moves in a mysteri- 
ous way," was written when he had just re- 
covered from a prolonged attack of melancholy 
in which his sufferings had been so extreme 
that he attempted to take his own life. The 
storm that had fallen upon him had broken his 
friendships, and divorced his heart from the 
pleasures of the world. He could say after 



An Honest Doubter. ■ 153 

this season of depression and wonderful de- 
liverance as he could not have said before: 

"You fearful saints, fresh courage take; 
The clouds you so much dread 
Are big with mercy, and shall break 
In blessings on your head." 



We all sing on funeral occasions: 



"I would not live always; I ask not to stay 
Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way ; 
The few^ cloudy m:ornings that dawn on us here 
Are enough for life's woes, full enough for its 
cheer. 

"I would not live always; no; welcome the tomb; 
Since Jesus has lain there, I dread not its gloom; 
There sweet be my rest, till he bid me arise 
To hail him in triumph descending the skies." 

Who wrote these words? The founder of the 
Church of the Holy Communion on Sixth Ave- 
nue and Twenty-sixth Street in the city of 
New^ York. Who wrote these lines? The man 
w^ho not only founded th^it church, but secured 
for it an endowment that it may stand 
in lower New York for generations as a bea- 
con. Who is the author of this hymn? The 



154 The Way of Salvation. 

man who founded and endowed St. Luke's Hos- 
pital. Who uttered these words of gloom and 
sadness? William Augustus Muhlenberg, one of 
the grandest and most saintly men who has 
ever lived and wrought in the great city of 
New York. Under what circumstances? When 
a great grief came to him in early manhood. 
When the one with whom he expected to make 
life's pilgrimage had suddenly been snatched 
away. In that season of despondency this his- 
toric hymn was written. 

The experience, therefore, of John the Baptist 
was not such an unknown experience that it 
should be set aside. Other grand men have 
passed through scenes of discouragement and 
doubt similar to that of the world's Redeemer. 

But I call your attention to the conduct of 
John at this time. He commanded his disciples 
to go directly to the Master with the inquiry 
which was uppermost in his mind: "Art th.ou! 
he that should come? or look we for another?" 
He did not say, as do many of our modern 
doubters, "I believe in looking all about a 
subject, examining it thoroughly, surveying it 
on every side and from evei-y possible point 



An Honest Doubter. 155 

of view," and then 'spend their time listening 
to addresses, and reading books the tendency 
of which is to encourage doubt, steadily, per- 
sistently abstaining from hearing discourses or 
reading volumes the purpose and tendency of 
which is to generate and encourage faith. 
John did what you ought to do if you are 
troubled with doubts— go to the fountain of 
faith; inquire of the great Teacher concern- 
ing the matter. 

Look at the answer returned bv Jesus. He 
said to the committee: "Tell John what vou 
have seen and heard. Tell him that the blind 
see, that the lame walk, that lepers arexleansed, 
that the deaf hear, that the dead are raised, 
and to the poor the Gospel is preached." In 
other words: "Tell your master what I am 
doing, from which he may determine whether 
lam the person predicted or whether he ought 
to look for another." 

A line of argument is here suggested for our 
holy religion that we may consider impregna- 
ble. If men will look at what the Christ has 
done and is doing by his gospel and by his 
church, the conclusion will be Well-nigH 



156 The Way of Salvation. 

inevitable that he was and is the Messiah, the 
anointed of the Father, the Son of the living 
God. Christianity according to Christ is now 
giving sight to the blind, feet to the lame, 
cleansing to the leprous, hearing to the deaf, 
and more wonderufl than a physical resur- 
rection is the lifting of men out of death in 
trespasses and sins into lives of faith, and hope, 
and love, and holiness. 

In conclusion, if for anv reason vour faith 
is wavering, go with your doubts to Jesus. 
If because of failing health, or loss of prop- 
erty, or infidelity of friends, or the decease of 
loved ones, you are in the valley of despond- 
ency, there is no encouragement like that 
which can be derived from an intelligent 
examination of the words of Jesus and his 
inspired ambassadors. I commend you, there- 
fore, sorrowing, discouraged, doubting, timid 
souls — I commend you, therefore, to the Lord 
Jesus and to the Word of his (^race as the 
remedv for these thino^s. He will build vou 
up, and make you strong in faith and hope, 
and give you at last an inheritance among 
the sanctified. 



THE PROBLEM OF UNION. 
"That they may all be one." — John xvti. 21. 

These words are a part of the Lord's prayer. 
Thev are not a part of what is usually so 
denominated, a prayer recorded by Matthew 
and Luke, but in reality the prayer which 
has been preserved in the memorabilia of 
John may, more fittingly than the former, be 
designated as the Lord's. 

The prayer, of which the words just quoted 
are a part, divides itself into three sections. 
In the first our Lord prays for himself. He 
says: "Glorify thy Son that the Son may 
glorify thee." "And no^v, Father, glorify 
thou me with thine own self with the glory 
which I had with thee before the world 
was." This part of the prayer has certainly 
been . answered. When Jesus was received 
up into heaven after his work on earth, he 
w^as glorified with the Father wdth a glory 
equal, if not superior, to the glory which 

157 



158 The Way of Salvation. 

he had before the beginning of the ages. 

In the second division of this wonderful 
prayer, our Lord requests the Father in behalf 
of his personal friends. He says: "I pray not 
for the world, but for those whom thou hast 
given me." And: "I pray not that thou shouldst 
take them from the world, but that thou 
shouldst keep them from the evil one." He 
also says: "Holy Father keep them in thy 
name which thou hast given me that they 
may be one even as we are." This part of 
the prayer was also answered. The personal 
friends of the Christ were kept "from the evil 
one" according to his request. They were also 
"one even as we are," that is, as the Father 
and the Son are one. 

The Book of Acts of Apostles is a brief his- 
tory of the Church of Christ in the apostolic 
age. In it we read the fulfillment of our 
Saviour's prayer so far as it relates to his 
personal friends and their first converts. We 
are told that after the ascension of Jesus his 
disciples returned to Jerusalem, and entering 
an upper chamber, they were "all with one 
accord" engaged in prayer until the day of 



The Problem of Union. 159 

Pentecost was come. This was a union and a 
protracted prayer-meeting. Note the fact that 
out of this prayer-meeting came the Church 
of Christ. 

Converts to Jesus were at once gained. So 
great was the success of the preaching of the 
Word, the historian assures us, that at the 
close of the great Pentecost, there had been 
"added unto them in that day about three 
thousand souls." Nor did success cease with 
that meeting, for "the Lord added to them 
dav bv dav those that were being saved." 
The historian informs us that "the multitude 
of them that believed were of one heart and 
soul." Here, then, we have a Divinely au- 
thorized record of the answer to the second 
part of the Lord's prayer, that part which 
related to his personal friends and disciples, 
and their first converts, recorded in the seven- 
teenth chapter of the Gospel according to John. 

The third division of this prayer relates to 
all believers. Jesus said: "Neither for these 
only do I pray, but for them also that believe 
an me through their word that they may all 
be one even as thou. Father, art in me and I 



160 The War of Salvation, 

in thee, that thev also mav be in us that the 
world may believe that thou didst send me." 

This part of the prayer is unanswered to-day. 
There are very few, if any, who will claim 
that the disciples of Christ are "one, even as 
thou, Father, art in me and I in thee.'' There 
is not such a union and unity existing be- 
tween the children of God as exists between 
the Father and the Son. 

We have seen how, in the beginning, "the 
multitude of them that believed were of one 
heart and soul." Turning over the pages of the 
New Testament in our study of the iVpostolio 
CJiurch, we see that ditTerences of opinion, of 
feeling, of speech and conduct, developed at 
an early period among those who wore the 
name of the Christ. 

When Jesus was leaving the earth, he com- 
missioned twelve persons to "make disciples of 
all the nations"— to "go into all the world, 
and preach the Gospel to the whole creation." 
These persons were clothed with plenary power. 
Jesus constituted them his ambassadors. They 
claimed that thev were ambassadors "on be- 
half of Christ as though God were entreating 



The Problem of Union. 161 

by us." "On behalf of Christ" they besought 
men to be "reconciled to God." Jesus assured 
these persons that the Spirit which he would 
send, after his coronation in the heavens, would 
guide them "into all the truth." He said also 
to them: "He that heareth you heareth me, 
and he that rejectelh you rejecteth me, and 
he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent 
me." To hear these persons, therefore, is to 
hear the Christ. All that Jesus said and did 
during his personal ministry was but the be- 
ginning of his teaching and work. We read, 
therefore, as the introductory words of Acts 
of Apostles, "The former treatise I made, 
Theophilus! concerning all that Jesus began 
both to do and to teach, until the day in w^hich 
he was received up after that he had given 
commandment through the Holy Ghost unto 
the Apostles w^hom he had chosen." 

As w^e discover the differences growing into 
discords, and finally schisms among the early 
disciples, it will be profitable to notice the 
attitude of these holy men, representatives of 
Jesus, endued in a remarkable degree with the 
Spirit of the living God, guided by this Spirit 



162 The Way of Salvation. 

"into all truth"— it will be interesting; to note 
the bearing of ihese men toward this aliena- 
tion, discord and growing schism among \he 
disciples of our Lord. Were ihey pleased with 
it? Did ihey commend it? Did it seem to 
them in harmony with the Gospel of the Prince 
of Peace? Did they pass it by in silence? 
What was their attitude toward this change 
which thev saw cominc: over their brethren? 
A change which disturbed the peace, harmony 
and unitv of the church. Let us consult Paul 
on this matter. 

The Apostle to the Gentiles said "unto the 
church of God which is at Corinth" that "it 
hath been signified unto me concerning you, 
mv brethren, bv them which are of the house- 
hold of Chloe, that there are divisions among 
vou." Havino: heard this he writes to these 
brethren verv tenderlv. P'ive vears before 

K K %. 

he had spent a year and six months in the 
city of Corinth preaching the word of God and 
winning men to Christ. The historian tells 
us that "many of the Corinthians hearing be- 
lieved and were baptized." Very tenderly 
were these persons loved by their Father in 



The Problem of Union. 103 

the Gospel. He says to them: "Though ye 
should have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet 
have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus 
I begat ye through the Gospel." He says also: 
"I am jealous over you v^'ith a godly jealousy 
for I espoused you to one husband that I 
might present you as a pure virgin to Christ, 
but I fear lest by any means, as the serpent 
beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds 
should be corrupted from the simplicity and 
the purity that is toward Christ." Having 
been informed of the "contentions" which ex- 
isted among those "that are sanctified in Christ 
Jesus called to be saints," he says to his chil- 
dren, whom he had begotten in the Gospel, 
"I beseech you, brethren, through the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the 
same thing, and that there be no divisions 
among you, but that ye be perfected together 
in the same mind, and in the same judgment." 
Impossible! We can not "all speak the same 
thing." We can not "be perfected together 
in the same mind, and in the same judgment." 
Paul, then, was a dreamer, was he? He was 
not a practical man? Are you prepared to take 



164 The Way of Salvation, 

this position? But how is it possible for us 
to "all speak the same thing?" If we agree 
to speak of Bible things in Bible language, it 
will be uttei'ly impossible for us to do any- 
thing else in the way of utterance than to 
"speak the same thing." If we are now not 
speaking "the same thing" it is either because 
we are all failing to speak as "the oracles of 
God speak," or because some of us speak where 
the Bible speaks and are silent where the 
Bible is silent, while others employ their own 
language rather than that of the Holy Spirit. 
If the rule here suggested should be adopted 
the result would be not only a unity of speech, 
but a unity of thought as well. For it would 
be impossible to "all speak the same thing," and 
not "be perfected together in the same mind 
and in the same judgment." In w^ords, all 
who wear the name of Christ, certainly in 
Protestant Christendom, agree that "the Holy 
Scriptures of the New Testament" contain 
"all things necessary to salvation," and ai-e 
"the rule and ultimate standard of faith." 
To this all Protestants hold as a theory, but 
is the theory reduced to practice? If there 



The Problem of Union, 165 

are divisions among us it is because we are 
out of harmony with this fundamental Protes- 
tant position. 

The character of "contentions" among the 
"sanctified in Christ Jesus" in the city of Cor- 
inth is described by the apostle in the words 
following: "Each one of you saith I am of 
Paul, and I of Apollos, I of Cephas, and I of 
Christ." In other words, it seems that those 
who were "called to be saints" were rallying 
around these men as party leaders. They 
were becoming Paulites, and Apollosites, and 
Cephasites, and Christites. If ever such con- 
duct was excusable, it was in that eai'ly period 
of the church's history. First, because the 
persons who were ind^ilging had but recently 
turned to the Lord, and were not well in- 
structed in the principles of the Gospel; and, 
second, the men whom they elected to be their 
leaders were mighty men. Who can doubt 
that the Paul who condemned the conduct of 
those who, in that day, pi'ofessed to "call upon 
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," would 
condemn with equal, if possible greater, em- 
phasis those who in our day say, "I am of 



166 The Way of Salvation, 

Luther, and I of Calvin, and I of Wesley, and 
I of Campbell." Such a spirit and speech and 
course of life in the Apostolic age was wrong, 
was rebuked by the Apostle, is wrong now, 
and the Scriptures in which his rebuke of 
that ancient wrong is recorded stand as a re- 
buke to us who are guilty of these things, 
upon whom the ends of the world have come. 

The rebuke which Paul administered is first 
in the language following: "Is Christ divided? 
Was Paul crucified for you? Or, were ye 
baptized into the name of Paul? Were he 
in our midst he would probably say, "Is Christ 
divided? Was Luther crucified for you? Were 
you baptized into the name of Campbell?" i 

Further along in this first epistle nnto "the 
church of God which is at Corinth," the Apostle 
tells these "sanctified" that their "conten- 
tions" are evidences of carnalitv. While thev 
think and feel and speak and act in the man- 
ner in which they are thinking, feeling, speak- 
ing and acting they are under the dominion 
of the flesh rather than that of the Spirit. 
Paul says: "I hear that divisions exist among 
you, and I partly believe it." He says again: 



The Problem of Union, 167 

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you 
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as 
unto babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, 
not with meat; for ye were not yet able to 
bear it; nay not even now are ye able; for 
ye are yet carnal, for, whereas, there is among 
you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and 
walk after the manner of men? For when one 
saith, lam of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos, 
are ye not men? What then is Apollos? And 
what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye be- 
lieved; and each as the Lord gave to him. I 
planted, Apollos watered; but God gave th^e 
increase. So, then, neither is he that planteth 
any thing, neither he that watereth; but God 
thatgiveth the increase." In other words, Paul 
in rebuking the "jealousy and strife" among 
those "called to be saints," says in effect, I am 
nothing, Apollos is nothing, that we should 
excite your admiration. We are only instru- 
ments in the hands of God in generating belief 
in your hearts. You ought, then, to be ashamed 
of vourselves on account of vour "conten- 
tions, jealousy and strife." Paul and Apollos 
were simply "God's fellow-workers," and the 



168 The Way of Salvation, 

"sanctified in Christ Jesus" at Corinth were 
"God's husbandry, God's building," 

The Apostle would seem to attempt to elevate 
these brethren to such a plane that they would 
be ashamed to indulge in "strife, jealousy, 
wraths, factions, backbit ings, wliisperings, 
swellings, tumults." He reminds them of their 
enormous wealth, and of the relation which 
ihey sustain to the Divine Christ, saying: "All 
things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or 
Cephas, or the world of life or death, or things 
present or things to come; all are yours; and 
ye are Christ's; and Christ is Clod's." This 
inventory of the Christian's wealth Paul would 
employ for the purpose of exciting shame on 
the part of the schismatics in Corinth; for the 
purpose of bringing them from under the do- 
minion of the flesh; for the purpose of bringing 
them into subjection to the Divine Spirit. 

Did time permit, it would be easy to oc- 
cupy the minutes allotted to this discourse in 
quoting and commenting on the words of con- 
demnation uttered by these ambassadors of 
Christ against "jealousy, contention, debate, 
strife, confusion, schism," among those who 



The Problem of Union, 169 

have been "translated out of the kingdom of 
darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son." 
There is space for but a single additional 
reference. The Epistle to the Ephesians is ap- 
parently a circular letter on the subject of 
union among believers of the Je\vish and Gen- 
tile nations. It was exceedingly difficult to 
harmonize these diverse elements in the early 
church, but Paul reminds "the saints which 
are at "Ephesus, and the faithful in Chi'ist 
Jesus" that they were at one time "separated 
from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth 
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of 
promise having no hope, and without God in 
the world; but now in Christ Jesus ye that 
once were far off are made nigh in the blood 
of Christ. For He is our peace, who made both 
one, and brake down the middle wall of par- 
tition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, 
even the law of commandments contained in 
ordinances; that he might create in himself of 
the twain one new man, so making peace; and 
might reconcile them both"— that is both Jews 
and Gentiles— "in one body unta God through 
the cross, having slain the enmity thereby; 



170 The Way of Salvation, 

and he came and preached peace to you that 
were far off"— that is, to the Gentiles— "and 
peace to them that were nigh:"— that is, the 
Jews— "for through him we both"— Jews and 
Gentiles — "have our access in one Spirit unto 
the Father. So then ye are no more stran- 
gers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens 
with the saints, and of the household of God, 
l)eing built upon the foundation of the apos- 
tles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being 
the chief corner stone; in whom each several 
building, fitly framed together, groweth into 
a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also 
are builded together"— not separately, but to- 
gether— "for a habitation of God in the Spirit." 
V The heart of this epistle is an appeal for 
unity, and is found in the fourth chapter 
where the Apostle says: "I therefore, the pris- 
oner in the Lord, beseech vou to walk worthily 
of the calling wherewith ye were called, with 
all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, 
forbearing one another in love; giving dili- 
gence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace. There is one body, and one 
Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope 



The Problem of Union. 17 1 

of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one bap- 
tism, one God and Father of all, who is over 
all, and through all, and in all." In other words, 
the Apostle seems to say "to the saints which 
areatEphesus,and the faithful in Christ Jesus;" 
Possessing so many i h ings in common, you, Jews 
and Gentiles, ought "to walk worthily of the 
calling; wherewith ve are called." Do vou not 
see, he seems to say, that you are members of 
one body? That you have been begotten and 
are now guided by one Spirit? That you are 
sustained by one hope? That you are sub- 
missive to one Lord? That you hold to the one 
faith? That you have been baptized with one 
baptism, and that there is one God who is the 
Father of all, over all, through all, and in all? 
You ought, therefore, as a result, to walk "with 
all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, 
forbearing one another in love." You ought, 
seeing that you are members of one body, ani- 
mated by one spirit, sustained by one hope, 
submissive to one Lord, hold to one faith, have 
been baptized with one baptism, and have one 
Father who is the one God, over all, through 
all, and in all— you ought to give "diligence 



172 The Way of Salvation. 

to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
of peace." 

The time was, and not so long ago, \shen it 
was necessary to show from the Scriptures 
that divisions among the people of God are 
condemned by Jesus and the apostles, and that 
unity and peace ought to be, in a much larger 
degree than at present exists, characteristics of 
those who belong to the school of Christ. A 
necessity for this at the present time is not 
upon us. For this we may well give thanks 
to Almighty God. Our brethren see that the 
divisions which exist among us are not war- 
ranted by the teaching of the New Testament. 
It is universally conceded that the condition 
of the church, at the present time, is anomal- 
ous and indefensible. There is a very wide- 
spread interest in the problem of union, and in 
this we may well rejoice. As never before 
are men studying the sacred writings to dis- 
cover the mind of Christ upon this matter. 
As at no period in the past men are thinking, 
praying, conferring. The question is now, 
How can believers become one as the Father 
and the Son are one? And thus impress, as 



The Problem of Union, 173 

we are not now impressing, the world with 
the thought that Jesus is the Son of God and 
the Saviour of lost men. The question now 
before us relates to the basis on which this 
union can be brought about. Something ought 
also to be said as to the nature of the de- 
sired union. In this place, how^ever, and at 
this time, I can not speak on that topic. Let 
us consider the present state of the question 
as it relates to the problem of unity. There 
are five principal schemes at present before 
the public. These may be characterized by 
five words as follows: "Submission," "Confed- 
eration," "Consolidation," "Compromise," "Res- 
toration." A word now concerning each. 

1. Submission. The Church of Rome says, 
in effect, "The church is divided. For this 
division, Protestants are responsible. You de- 
parted," says His Holiness, "from the Mother 
Church. You now seem to lament the fact 
that there is 'strifes, jealousy, wraths, back- 
bitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults.' It is 
w^ell that you see, appreciate, lament these 
evils and desire deliverance therefrom. The 
way of deliverance from these things, which 



174 The Way of Salvation, 

so curse the church, is simple. You Protestants 
went away from the Holy Mother Church. If 
you will return and be submissive to His Holi- 
ness, Christ's Vice-regent among men, all will 
be well." This, in effect, Rome presents as 
the solution of the problem of the re-union 
of Christendom. It is unnecessary in this pres- 
ence to more than state the p.osition. 

2. Confederation. Our Presbyterian breth- 
ren favor this as preferable to any other method 
that has been suggested. The venerable ex- 
President of Princeton, James McCosh, a few 
years ago advocated with considerable zeal, 
and no little ability, a confederation of denom- 
inations as the remedy for the evils which we 
all see and acknowledge. This scheme con- 
templates denominationalism as a permanent 
feature of our church life. There is a broad 
field in the cultivation of which all denomi- 
nations may and ought to act together. Some 
sort of organization ought to be effected bring- 
ing these denominations into harmony in the 
cultivation of this field. It is a little difficult 
to state definitely what is meant by confedera- 
tion. In fact, the plan can not be presented 



The Problem of Union, 175 

in any other than the most general terms. The 
thought suggested by the word "confederation" 
is doubtless, from what is here said, obvious to 
your mind. This plan is a step in the right 
direction. It is important that, just so far as 
possible, Christian people, in the matters in 
which there is among them agreement, should 
work toe;ether. Bv this method thev will 
come to understand each other more fuUv, 
and I am so optimistic as to think that they 
will, as a result, appreciate each other more 
highly, and that this appreciation will gradu- 
ally ripen into affection, and this affection will 
result by and by in a permanent union. That 
a confederation of the churches is thought of 
and advocated as a way to re-unite the divided 
members of the Church of Christ is one of the 
hopeful signs of the times. As a step in the 
right direction, I am in hearty sympathy with 
it. That it is the solution of the problem I 
do not believe. It is clear to my mind that 
when our Saviour prayed, "that they may all 
be one," he meant something more than a con- 
federation of denominations. That he meant 
much more than this is evident from the fact 



176 The Way of Salraiion. 

that he immedicately added, "even as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be in us." 

3. Consolidation. Our brethren of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church manifest and have for 
some time exhibited a good degree of interest 
in the problem of union. The House of Bishops 
at a meeting held in Chicago in 1886 submitted 
the following four articles which were after- 
wards amended bv the Lambeth Conference 
in London: 

First, The Holy "Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament as containing all things neces- 
sary to salvation, and as being the rule and 
ultimate standard of faith. 

Second, The Apostles' Creed as the baptismal 
symbol; and the Nicene Creed as the suff'icient 
statement of the Christian faith. 

Third, The two sacraments ordained by Christ 
himself— Baptism and the Supper of the Lord- 
ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words 
of institution, and of the elements ordained 
bv him. 

Fourth, The Historic Episcopate, locally adap- 
ted in the methods of its administration to the 



The Problem of Union. 177 

varying needs of the nations and peoples called 
of God into the unity of his church. 

This plan hinges on something called "The 
Historic Episcopate." Just what this is I have 
not been able to discover. Nor have I been 
indifferent as to its meaning. In the "Church 
Reviev^r," for April and October, 1890, there 
appeared a series of papers in which "the Lam- 
beth propositions of 1888" were discussed by 
a number of churchmen. These papers were 
printed in a volume entitled "Church Re- 
union Discussed on the Basis of the Lambeth 
Propositions of 1888." The book contains be- 
tween four and five hundred pages. To dis- 
cover what is meant by "The Historic Epis- 
copate," I have read carefully every word in 
this volume. I am forced to the conclusion 
that there is no unity of understanding of 
this matter on the part o'f our brethren of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church. With a desire, 
also, to understand these brethren, and do 
them justice in a discussion of their scheme, 
I have read Dr. Huntington's book in which 
he discusses "The Historic Episcopate," and 
also "An Essav on the Four Articles of Church' 



178 The Way of Salvation. 

Unity Proposed by the American House of 
Bishops and the Lambeth Conference," by 
Charles Woodruff Shields, D. D., LL. D., of 
Princeton; not to mention other \vritings. I 
am, however, compelled to confess that I have 
not received the illumination which I very 
earnestly desire. It is apparent to my mind 
that the proposition of the House of Bishops 
and the Lambeth conference contemplates the 
re-ordination by the Bishops of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church of the ministers of all the 
Protesatnt denominations as an essential con- 
dition precedent to the reunion of the Church 
of Christ. This means that there shall be a 
consolidation of Baptists, Disciples, Congrega- 
tionalists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Luther- 
ans, and all others, under the Episcopate as 
it exists at the present time in the Protes- 
tant Episcopal Church. For this reason I 
characterize this scheme of union by the name 
"Consolidation." There is no serious contro- 
versy concerning tiie first three points sub- 
mitted. It is safe to sav that if reunion is 
deferred until Protestant Christendom shall be 
consolidated under the Episcopate as it now 



The Problem of Union, 179 

exists in the Protestant Episcopal Church, no 
one who listens to these words or reads these 
lines will ever see a united Church. 

4. Compi-omise. At the antipodes cf Epis- 
copacy is Congregationalism. Episeopalianism 
and Congregationalism represent the extremes 
in church order and organization. The Con- 
gregational State Association of New Jersey, 
which includes also Eastern Pennsylvania, 
Maryland and the District of Columbia, in the 
month of April, 1894, pi-oposed to the various 
Protestant Churches of the United States an 
alliance based on — 

First, The Scriptures of the Old and New 
Testaments, inspired by the Holy Spirit, as 
containing all things necessary to salvation, 
and as being the rule and ultimate standard 
of Christian faith. 

Second, Discipleship of Jesus Christ, the Di- 
vine Saviour and Teacher of the woi-ld. 

Third, The Church of Christ ordained by 
him to preach his Gospel to the world. 

Fourth, Liberty of conscience in the inter- 
pretation of the Scriptures and in the admin- 
istration of the Church. 



180 The Way of Salvation. 

The point in this scheme which is of, to say 
the least, doubtful propriety, is the fourth, 
in which "Liberty of conscience in the inter- 
pretation of the Scriptures and in the admin- 
istration of the Church," is proposed. This 
means, among other things, that in the ad- 
ministration of baptism there shall be perfect 
freedom to do this or that or the other thing 
or nothing at all. This phrase, "Liberty of 
conscience in the interpretation of the iScrip- 
tures" can easily be interpreted to mean that 
every text of Scripture in which the initiatory 
rite of the Christian Church is mentioned mav 
with a free hand be erased. Am I warranted 
in this statement? A discussion of the proposal 
of our Congregationalist brethren in their 
periodicals is a sufficient warrant for this ap- 
parently sweeping statement. Not only is 
infant baptism to be recognized as of equal 
validity with the baptism of believers, but 
affusion is to be recognized as baptism equally 
valid with immersion. If a Quaker applies for 
membership quoting Colossians second chap- 
ter: "Why, as though living in the world, do 
ye subject yourselves to ordinances? Handle 



The Problem of Union. 151 

not, nor taste, nor touch (all which things are to 
perish with the using), after the precepts and 
doctrines of men? Which things have, indeed, a 
show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, 
and severity to the bodv; but are not of anv 
value against the indulgence of the flesh"— if, 
Isay, a Quaker applies for membership quoting 
this passage, and saying that loyalty to the 
Christ will not permit him to submit to baptism, 
in or with water, or to approach the Lord's 
Supper, repudiating the two ordinances of 
Christ's appointment, he is to be received into 
the fellowship of the Church. It does seem tt) 
me that this is hardly consistent with per- 
sonal loyalty to the Christ. My conscience, 
if this is to be the rule, is not at "liberty." , 
At this point I am reminded of an article 
in the April number of "The New Christian 
Quarterly," from the pen of our brother Thomas 
Munnell, entitled "A Compromise Christian 
Union." This article was certainly written 
before the proposition of the Congregational 
State Association of New Jersey. The w-riter 
discusses his subject in the following way: 
"Would il be right? Would it.succeed? Should 



182 The Way of Salvation, 

we favor it? Under the head of "Would it 
be right?" Brother Munnell asks, referring to 
certain "deficiencies" in the primitive churches 
in contrast with certain acknowledged de- 
ficiencies in the church of to-day: "Were the 
former more pardonable than the latter? Is 
infant baptism less pardonable than infant 
circumcision in the primitive church? Is rant- 
ism for baptism less pardonable than the offer- 
ing of bull's blood after Jesus had died once 
for all? Is the error of the said denominations 
as to the design of baptism a greater error 
than the observance of new moons, holy days, 
and the whole ritual of the law of Moses?" 
The writer says that "A satisfactory settle- 
ment of these and cognate questions would 
decide whether we in uniting with said ortho- 
dox denominations would be more latitudinarian 
than the apostles were in bearing with the 
Jerusalem and Corinthian Churches of their 
day." The writer falls into two errors. 

First, He does not take into account at all 
the historic perspective which ought to be 
considered in any fair study of the Apostolic 
Church. The deficiencies to which he refers 



The Problem of Union, 183 

characterized persons who had recently turned 
either from the worship of idols to the wor- 
ship of the living God, or from the service of 
Moses to the service of Jesus Christ. There 
is a vast difference between persons growing 
up into a fuller, riper, completer knowledge 
of the facts and spirit of the Christian insti- 
tution, and the condition of the church to-day 
to which he refers. 

Second, He loses sight of the fact that our 
inquiry should be, must be, continually, What 
is the Lord's pleasure concerning this matter? 
His pleasure is recorded in the New Testament. 
We have there the model. Dr. Shields says 

in his essay on "The Historic Episcopate,". 

i 

(page 3), "In that one Catholic Apostolic 
Church we have an example and model of 
church unity." What shall we do with that 
model? Shall we strive for the unity of the 
church as it existed at the first, or shall we 
get up a model of our own, and labor to bring 
all men into harmony with it? 

5. Restoration This brings us to a con- 
sideration of the plan which is known as 
"Restoration." This is in perfect accord with 



184 The Way of Salvation, 

the thought just quoted from Professor Shields. 
Restoration proposes to all believers in Christ 
that, regardless of opinions, prejudices, pref- 
erences, customs, we shall go back over conti- 
nents and seas until \ve reach, in imagination, 
the Holy Land. That we shall go back through 
ihe intervening centuries until we sit, as it 
were, in the presence of the great Teacher, 
and we will receive from his immaculate lips 
a statement of the doctrine to be believed, of 
the duties to be discharged, and observing his 
majestic, sinless, moral and spiritual charac- 
ter, discover the standard of life to which we 
are to strive to attain. Can the world be 
brought back to Christianity according to 
Christ? To its creed, its ordinances, its life? 
To its doctrine, its fruit? To the oracles of 
God let us make our appeal. 

In the midst of Paul's discussion of the prob- 
lem of union in the city of Corinth, he said: 
"Other foundation can no man lay than that 
which is laid, which is Christ Jesus." To 
read this text as Paul wrote it we must in- 
sert the definite article before the word 
"Christ." So Paul wrote when he an'irm.ed 



The Problem of Union, 185 

that the great truth that Jesus is the Christ 
is the onlv foundation which anv man can 
legitimately lay for the Church of Jesus Christ. 
If Paul was right, then the way to the re- 
union of Christendom is "Return to Christ." 
God said from the Mount of Transfiguration: 
"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well 
pleased; hear ye him." Can men by compro- 
mises be induced to submit mind and heart 
and will to Him who possesses all authority 
in heaven and on earth, or is it not more likely 
that thev can be induced to surrender utterlv 
an<i absolutely to him by insisting that he 
shall be heard in all that he savs and in all that 
he authorizes to be said concerning the Chris- 
tian system. Get back to Christ! be the watch- 
word. If we will commit ourselves to Him 
he will guide us out of our confusion into 
such a unity as that for which he prayed, 
and the result will satisfy the desires of his 
heart— the world will believe that God sent 
him. This, after all, ought to be the real pur- 
pose which we have in view in praying to 
God, and pleading with Christians "to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." 



